A Change of View
by Prettyhex04
Summary: After being kidnapped, the month following the kidnapping is a complete blur for Felicity and she can't remember anything apart from one thing. She's spent 2 years away from her old life but is it slowly catching up with her? What happens when a certain green hooded vigilante finds her?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this is a story that has been constantly bugging me for ages and I decided to try it as a multi-chapter story so here's the first chapter, please tell me what you think and ****_review_****. **

_Felicity had just finished the scans on the current bad dude of the week and was making her way back home. This morning Digg had given her a ride but she offered to walk back home because he was needed elsewhere, with a certain overbearing, arrogant, stuck up, spiteful, wicked witch of the west A.K.A. Moira Queen, even though she was Oliver's mother still didn't mean that she had to like her at all. No matter how much Oliver hated the idea of her walking home alone at night and especially through the Glades she still did it, he could've been arguing with her for about two hours because she didn't really keep track but in the end she reminded him that it was 'her life, her choice' and he just said 'screw it, do what you want!' in a growly voice that sounded very much like the Arrow's but without the voice modulator then stormed out of the building. Deciding to take a shortcut to get home quicker Felicity took the nearby left walking down a thin passageway, working with the guys really did make her more conscious of taking in her surroundings at all times. All of a sudden a shiver ran up her spine, making her hairs stand on end, she didn't know what it was but she didn't like it. It all happened in a blur, one second Felicity was walking and the next she was getting surrounded by all directions and sedated but she wasn't going down without a fight. Digg's training came fighting into her system, controlling her body to lash out at the men. Kicking and punching, her hands were clenched into tight fists and were flailing about aiming for somewhere that hurt. Yelps of pain and quite a painful crunch seemed to echo through the alleyway. At least 3 out of the 5 men that were ganging up on her went down. The sedative started taking effect because her body began to feel like lead, making her movements and reactions much slower. Managing to get a glimpse of the faces surrounding her, Felicity committed them to memory. Before everything went black she felt herself being tossed in the back of a vehicle then doors slamming followed by complete and utter darkness. Her last thoughts of consciousness were Oliver and the team. _

* * *

Felicity made her way across the open space of the old warehouse she had been calling home for the past two years.

"Liz" a voice suddenly caught her attention,

"Yes Aiden" she replied. About halfway into her first year here, Felicity had created a piece of software that was basically alive and so kept her company through the last year and a half. Not really sure of what to call her creation, she came up with the name Aiden and I guess you could say that he's become her partner in the new life she was living. She preferred having Aiden to an actual _living _partner because truth be told she didn't trust herself around other people, always fearing she could snap at any point, and besides Aiden was _so _much more helpful because he could easily hack into any computer/techy object and was constantly in her ear helping out wherever he could.

"There has been movement near the docks" Aiden stated.

"Well then looks like I'm taking a trip to the docks, try not to have too much fun while I'm gone" she threw over her shoulder as she made her way over to the exit.

The past two years have been the most complicated years of her life, it all started when she was kidnapped from the empty alleyway near her house. After that point her life as Felicity Smoak EA to Oliver Queen at QC, partner to the Arrow and his bodyguard/driver John Diggle was over. The month that followed that experience was blurry, barely remembering anything the only thing that was clear to her memory was pain. It's taken her a little over a year to control her new found strength that surged through her veins. At the beginning, when she first found the abandoned warehouse, she barely had control over her body and her actions. To be honest, she didn't know why she didn't just go back to the Arrow cave (as she liked to call it) where Oliver, Digg, Sara and Roy could've helped her so instead she chose to walk away from them until she had control over her own power. Her new strength allowed her to be much more agile and smarter not to mention stronger than ordinary people. Following in Oliver's footsteps Felicity became a friend to the neighbourhood and using her strength to defend and helppeople in need of it and couldn't defend themselves. For the past year both her and Aiden have been scouring the place for a certain man that is linked to what had happened to her. Exiting the building she made sure her mask was in place before she began jumping roof to roof, towards the docks. Felicity had decided that if she wanted to keep her identity a secret then she would have to dress the part. She wore a black leather cat suit with a V-neck that didn't reveal too much of her cleavage, with a shoulder strap which held her main weapons on her back and a belt that held her arrows. Hiding under her cat suit was a necklace, which was a wolf howling to the moon. Her main weapon was an extendable staff that switched to nunchucks and her backup weapon was a bow and arrow with a knife hidden in a pocket of her left leg that was for emergencies, she was almost definite that Oliver left his mark on her when it came to weapons and leather. Her mask covered the main portion of her face, only leaving her mouth and a small section of her nose uncovered.

"Liz, be careful" Aiden said over the ear piece.

"Aren't I always?" Felicity replied with a smirk in her voice

"Please tell me that's a trick question" he shot back, earning a huff from her.

* * *

Outside the building, Felicity could already tell that there was somebody inside of it and they weren't alone. Cautiously entering the warehouse (seriously what was it with abandoned warehouses? They were everywhere) from high up, giving her an advantage over the others, she could see somebody she was pretty sure she was never going to see again. Beneath a dark green figure was engaging in combat and was clearly outnumbered but was putting up a good fight. Debating what she should do, Felicity waited patiently to see if he would need help. This was the first time in two years that she'd seen him and from what she could see, he hadn't changed. From behind him appeared five more men that clearly wanted a fight- so they would receive one. Dropping to the ground in one swift, fluid motion, Felicity grabbed hold of her staff and extending it then she locked in combat with the five men that had been targeting the Arrow. Defeating them with ease, she twirled around to a 6 on 1 fight and instantly intervened. The Arrow was clearly surprised by a sudden set of helping hands but recovered quickly as he received a blow to the stomach and she swore she heard a crack from him but it didn't seem to faze him as he powered through. Working as team they both managed to put all the men face-down on the floor. As they both turned to face each other, she was met by a questioning look.

"Who are you?" his firm voice broke the silence.

"Somebody who just saved your arse so you might want to watch it next time" she shot back at him, receiving a confused yet stern glare.

"What do you want?" he asked, clearly wondering whether she was friend or foe.

"Nothing from you, and none of your business…..clearly" she replied before ignoring him to check the men out- not in the rude way though. Muttering to Aiden over the ear piece whether these men were in any means connected then she scanned them all over to make sure they were out but breathing. She could feel his intense gaze burning a hole in the back of her head.

"Why do you seem so familiar to me?" he wondered out loud

"Part of my natural charm I guess" she said over her shoulder, "Yeah well I'm done here, have fun hoody and watch out for those sneaky ones".

"Don't call me that" he full out growled "The name's Arrow"

"Yeah I already know that, doesn't take a genius to figure it out" Felicity replied finally making eye contact with him, pointing to the several arrows that had latched themselves in some of the men's legs "name's Black Smoak".

"I guess I'm going to have to thank you for watching my back" he stated sceptically

"Well, I know a good person when I see one and don't worry about it" she said.

"Going up?" he asked while retrieving an arrow with a line attached to it. At her nod, he released the arrow and reached out his hand. Looking at it for a few seconds, Felicity graciously took it. Pulling her close, he placed one hand around her waist as one of hers banded around his neck. Zipping through the air, they reached the roof in a matter of few seconds.

"Got to go, maybe I'll see you around hood boy" Felicity said in a teasing tone,

"I told you not to call me that" he growled out

"Where's the fun in that" she exclaimed with a smirk before she began bounding roof to roof.

* * *

Returning back to the lair, Oliver was still deep in thought about the Black Smoak and how she reminded him of somebody that was very close to him. Maybe it was her figure, personality?

"Hey, what happened?" a voice snapped him out of his trail of thoughts "who were you talking to?"

"Black Smoak, she kind of reminded me of somebody but she saved my arse from five guys who were trying to sneak up on me"

"Who'd she remind you of?"

"Do I really need to answer that?"

"Felicity" The way Digg said it was more of a statement than a question. At the point, Oliver had ditched the hood and bow, settling for a few hours on the salmon ladder instead while Digg saw the guilt and anger that was welling up instead of him ever since Felicity had been kidnapped. When they saw the crime scene they had seen splatters of her blood along the ground with an empty syringe of a sedative drug lying broken on the floor beside her purse with the contents scattered on the ground. They knew she had put up a fight but obviously it wasn't good enough.

"Oliver it's been two years since it happened, there's still a good chance that she's alive"

"Digg…..just don't, both Sara and Roy have already given me this conversation"

"Alright, but this isn't how she would expect you to act Oliver. Felicity would want you to keep living your life as you usually do, even if she's not here with us"

"I CAN'T!" Oliver bellowed as it echoed around the lair and Digg swore he saw tears beginning to form in his eyes. Then without another word he took off towards the door of the training room. Digg had a feeling they would have to order some new training dummies.

"God, Felicity I wish you were here….it'd much easier for him, for all of us".


	2. Chapter 2

"So what happened?" Aiden asked curiously,

"Well you were right and I met somebody I'd never thought I'd ever see again, I saw Oliver….well, I guess I should be saying the Arrow"

"So now what?" the question lingered in the open before Felicity finally answered.

"I guess I keep an eye on him, wouldn't want him to get hurt" she replied before heading off to work on their project.

* * *

A few days later Aiden informed Felicity that there was a lot of movement in a nearby factory. Instantly changing into the cat suit, Felicity set off towards the location.

When she arrived, once again she approached from high up.

Her eyes automatically flying to the green figure in the middle of the fight, this time she could tell he was on his last remaining set of legs, a few more hits and he would be on the floor. Instantly intervening (again) Felicity positioned herself directly behind him, stopping any more surprise attacks then proceeding to begin attacking the enemies that were already clearly outnumbering the two.

At the corner of her eye, she saw him drop to his knees after defeating another man. Automatically Felicity powered through, forcing all the men to direct the fight to her and not to Oliver, who was beginning to pass out on the floor. Defeating her current opponents, Felicity flipped herself over so she was in front of Oliver, protecting him from any further attacks. He saw what she was doing but stayed strong, not wanting the enemies to think he was weak. After what seemed like three minutes of fighting all the men were knocked out unconscious on the floor in a dog pile, meanwhile Felicity went straight to Oliver's side checking for a pulse.

"Hey don't give up on me, hold on" she tried to talk to him in the calmest but also the most soothing voice she had.

His eyes were open and fixed on her; if they weren't in this situation it would be kind of awkward, but she knew that look though it was the one of trust and composure.

Checking the area to double check it was clear, she turned her attention back to him and realised he hadn't stopped staring at her the entire time. Did he know? She could hear a voice but it was quite quiet.

Getting down on one knee beside him, Felicity propped him up so he was mainly leaning on her and he didn't seem to have a problem with that since he turned his head into her neck. Shuffling the two so most of his weight was on her, she pushed up to her feet with him heavily leaning on her.

Weaving their way down alleyways, Felicity felt Oliver's body becoming heavier by the second meaning he was losing consciousness, which wasn't good. Finally entering the warehouse, Felicity instantly put him on a nearby table as Aiden had already pulled up everything that was happening to his body.

"Oliver?" a voice came across louder than before, mainly because Aiden had connected to the Bluetooth.

"He's alright, unconscious but alive" Felicity answered

"Who's this? Where is Oliver?" the voice, which Felicity straightaway recognised as Dig, was becoming more distressed and panicky.

"He's at a warehouse; I'll send you the address just get here as quickly as you can" and with that Aiden shut down the communication and focused on Oliver. About ten minutes later Digg, Sara and Roy burst through the doors and towards her and Oliver.

"You must be Black Smoak" Digg stated and with her quick nod they all focused on the passed out figure on the table.

Everyone pitched in to make sure nothing was seriously hurt with him then quickly transferred him to the nearby couch. Apart from having slightly bruised ribs, an exhausted body and a bruised forehead, Oliver laid peacefully asleep on the couch nearby.

"Wow you really do remind me of somebody we used to know" Roy mentioned, now all the attention was focused on her still dressed as Black Smoak.

"Why is that I wonder?" Sara questioned her, drawing her brows together in concentration. From behind her came a low moan, twisting round to face him she saw that Oliver was beginning to wake up.

"Where am I?" he said as he slowly sat up, bringing his hand up to his forehead.

"That would be in my lair" Felicity answered him,

"You again…..and you guys…" letting out another low moan "… what happened?"

"Well yet again you got your arse kicked but to sum it all up; you got knocked unconscious, I saved your sorry arse then brought you back here to fix you up and told these lot where you were….oh and by the way you've got bruised ribs from last time" she says all in one go while everyone's staring at her with slightly confused looks.

"Why is everyone staring at me, it's really creepy" she said while walking off in the direction of the main computers with Oliver and the rest of the gang following closely behind her.

"Do you lot always stalk people?"

"You know my identity so now it's your turn, who are you really?" Oliver stated while still striding towards her, stopping just in front of her itching to take off her mask and reveal her true self, his injury getting completely forgotten about.

"Do you actually get the point of the _secret _identity?"

"Well you know mine"

"Yeah because your mask _really_ hides it well" she retorted, sarcasm soaking her reply, "and besides do you really think you can trust me" by this point she was trying to come up with different reasons _not_ to take off her mask.

"Well like you said, this is the second time you've helped me" _dammit _why did he have to bring logic into this.

"Never ask questions that you don't want to know the answer to" she shot at him; her excuses were rapidly running out.

"But I am asking the question that I DO want to know the answer to" he shot back.

Exhaling deeply she brought her hand halfway up to her mask and hesitated before pulling it off, did she really want them to know? After two years away from them, did she want to pull the plug? How would they react though? How would Oliver react? They were her team though, her _friends, _she couldn't shut them out forever. Shutting her eyes tightly Felicity gradually began to remove her mask and threw it on the table that Oliver had been laying on. As soon as the mask was off, gasps from Digg, Sara and Roy echoed around the place but Oliver remained shell shocked.

"Hey guys" Felicity stated to the group.

"….Felicity…" Oliver mumbled breathlessly, not believing she was actually there.

"Told you" Felicity murmured as she shrugged, before Aiden decided to cut in.

"Awkward" Aiden said in a teasing tone, receiving a glare from Felicity.

"Aiden you are not helping" she said, clenching her teeth.

Digg, Sara and Roy all looked towards the computers in pure shock, so they'd heard Aiden then- just great, another thing she had to explain to them about.

Meanwhile Oliver was still looking at Felicity; reaching to her he cupped either side of her face with his thumbs trailing over her cheeks. He was looking at her with such emotion it almost brought her to tears.

"I thought I'd lost you" he whispered breathlessly before pulling her into a tight hug, wrapping his arms protectively around her, so tight he was afraid to let go, afraid if he'd let go, he'd open his eyes and she wouldn't be there anymore. One arm banded tightly around her waist, engulfing her hip while the other submerged itself into her golden flowing locks and his face buried into the crook where her shoulder met her neck.

Time seemed to stop for Oliver, there he stood with the very person he thought was gone and he'd never get back in his life again wrapped securely in his arms and he wasn't planning on letting go any time soon. He didn't want that moment to ever end.

Inhaling deeply, he allowed all of his senses to be flooded by her scent. As Felicity hesitantly wrapped both her arms around his neck she felt him inhaling her scent and tighten his grip, he hadn't seen her for two years and by the way he reacted to her revealing her secret it had seriously affected him.

This was the first time in two bloody years that she was in Oliver Queen's arms and she missed him. She missed his scent being a mix of leather and sweat. She missed how overprotective he got of her. But the main thing she missed was when she was in his arms she had her innocence back; she was her old self again. It was like nothing had changed but the harsh reality of it being everything _had _changed and the worse part of it was she didn't even know if she could ever get that part of her back again.

A couple years ago when she was working in the I.T department of QC and you told her that in a few years she would miss being her usual babbling, almost-awkward, bright, innocent person that had her whole life ahead of her full of light then she would probably tell them that they needed to go see someone. But it was true; she missed that person in every single way, somebody who didn't have to worry about the horrors in life. In truth it was kind of ironic if you thought about it because everyone in Team Arrow had darkness in their life while she was the light of the team, their own personal sun but now it's completely changed.

Even though she wasn't looking at him, Felicity could feel all of Oliver's emotion flooding out of him like tears and he was trying _desperately _to hold in his tears that she could feel brimming in the corners of his eyes. Right now his face was buried in the mass of blonde curls cascading around her face. If all he wanted was to prove to himself that she was real and right there then she would contentedly stand there offering to him whatever he needed.

They stood there like this for what felt like a good few minutes before Digg cut in.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else but I think I need to hit the sack, Felicity is it alright if we stay here?" Digg asked while Oliver reluctantly released her but kept a firm grip on her waist.

"Of course, here I'll go bring out the extra beds" Felicity replied making her way to the storage closet, realising Oliver was trailing behind, she decided to just ignore him.

Setting up four extra beds, Team Arrow all made themselves comfortable before slowly drifting off. Obviously Oliver had placed his bed right beside Felicity's and when they settled down he laid facing her.

"Night guys and night Aiden" Felicity broke the silence as everyone exchanged goodnights before the lights were out.

* * *

Daylight streamed in through the cracks underneath the door, filling the warehouse.

Felicity woke up a few hours later to a close-up view of Oliver's bravata tattoo, fully opening her eyes, she realised sometime during the night he must've got into her bed because she was now cocooned in his arms with her head resting on his chest, tucked in under his chin. When she shifted slightly to get into a more comfortable position, he shifted bringing her with him so now she was lying practically on top of him while also tightening his grip again so there was now no way she could escape his grasp without waking him. His mouth began nuzzling her hair and Felicity heard his deep intake and him mumbling her name, apparently he was dreaming about her or something. Closing her eyes for a few minutes, she felt him stirring.

Opening her eyes, she revealed two deep blue eyes looking at her intently.

"Hmm…..morning" Oliver murmured into her hair.

"Morning, what was your bed uncomfortable?" Felicity asked in a teasing matter. He didn't answer her; instead he just closed his eyes again with a smile perched upon his face.

"Hey, sleeping beauty you need to let me get up because right now I can't move" she said with a smile, resting her head on top of her hands which were resting on his chest and looked up at him with a smile.

"What if I don't want to let you go, what if I want to stay like this forever" he replied, holding her more securely.

His statement received a slight laugh from her. Finally after what seemed like eternity he loosened his grip on her so she could get up but she had little trouble extracting herself from his grasp because he seemed quite reluctant to letting her go.

Everyone seemed to be sleeping in. Glancing back to Oliver, he was now lying in the part of her bed that she had just occupied.

"Hey Aiden, how far along are you with our little project?" Felicity asked.

"It's now completed, but are you sure you want to go through with it, you have no idea what could've happened to you" Aiden replied with a tad bit of concern filtering his voice, this didn't go unnoticed by the group because now the rest of the four members were standing behind her with their brows raised in confusion.

Apparently they weren't fully asleep.

"I have to find out….I _have_ to know what happened" Felicity replied  
"Alright, but if it gets too much I'm turning it off and continuing another day, capesh"

"Fine but I can handle it okay and you _really_ need to stop watching all those TV programmes"

"Yeah that's not happening"

"Kind of figured" Felicity huffed.

"Felicity what's he on about?" Oliver questioned now wide awake and quite serious. Taking a deep breath Felicity explained.

"Everything that you've seen me do, all the fighting isn't _completely _me because I was injected with a serum when I was kidnapped and it's turned me into a sort of a weapon whether I like it or not but things didn't go….as well during the entire time because well….." Felicity described before lifting her shirt up, revealing the severe gashes and scars trailing along her stomach and down her body but also on her back too. There were various kinds of inflicted wounds/scars; burns, knives, electric and bullet. As soon as she showed the group they all were frozen in place, then a look of rage lit up in their eyes. Oliver's hands clenched tightly into fists and she knew it was his way of trying to contain the rage.

"That's the difference between you lot and me….you lot actually know how you got your scars and what they did to you and why….but I don't-" focusing her gaze on a spot on the floor she continued "- the month following when I got kidnapped is a complete blur to me, I can't remember _anything _about it at all, the only clear reminder is pain so if all I can remember is pain then it must've been extremely painful and full of it"

"Why didn't you come back?" Sara was the one to break the trance.

"Because I couldn't, I promised myself that I would learn to control myself before I did anything because at first I couldn't control my strength or any feelings that came with it"

"We could've helped you, we helped Roy" Oliver was hurt and it was clear in his voice.

"I know but for some reason I just couldn't"

She decided not to tell them about the fact that this serum inside of her could make her into a monster, who had no humanity, no care in the world because then they'd probably treat her like some sort of wild animal and that wouldn't help at all. She could control herself, so she'd just have to hope that nothing completely bad happened.

"Well you're here now, that's the main thing" Digg interjected with Roy shortly agreeing. Giving them a quick smile Felicity continued.

"Basically Aiden and I have created something that brings all the memories that I have but don't remember to the surface" Felicity said while walking over to the machine. It had a large frame with two strips of chains so you were chained up and dangling in mid-air.

"That doesn't look comfortable" Roy stated, crossing his arms.

"It's not supposed to be, the thing is if all I can remember is pain then I must've gone through something almost traumatic that changed me to end up with me like this so I might be put back into the position again but I don't trust myself to control it so the chains are there for reinforcements, they're made out of a metal that is unbreakable to human strength even mine, which is basically as strong as mirakuru but the thing is if my memory is pain then I'm going to have to inflict pain to myself to reach those memories " during the entire explanation, Oliver was looking out of his comfort zone and she knew he was going to voice his opinion on it.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked calmly, slowly stepping towards her and stopping short in front of her. She knew the self-control he had to use not to burst out in shouts.

"Like I told Aiden, I have to know what happened to me, I have to know what those _bastards _did to me or I'm just slowly going to go insane" closing the distance between them, Felicity placed a hand on his arm and squeezed a little, the same thing Oliver did with her, their way of saying 'I'll be fine'.

Smiling to everyone else, Felicity went to position herself in the chains only to find both Oliver and Digg helping out. With Digg on her left and Oliver on her right they lifted her up while Sara and Roy secured the chains around her wrists so her feet were clean off of the floor.

Backing away the team looked at her before Aiden turned on the machine, they had edited it a little so now everybody else could see exactly what she could but Felicity would be the one actually experiencing it.

She could tell they weren't comfortable with her putting herself back into the same position that she'd been in two years ago. She could do this. She was strong enough and besides there was a part of her that would never be at peace unless she found out what happened to her in the missing month of her past. Besides she wasn't alone, she had her friends there with her when she woke up but at what price? What will they see? What if they saw something that she didn't want them to ever know? To move on sometimes you have to take a couple of steps backwards first.

Relaxing her body, sagging in the chains, Felicity closed her eyes and welcomed the past with open arms.**  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Floating in her thoughts and memories of her past, something began pushing her out of her make-shift paradise and back into reality. Eyes fluttering open, the first thing that registered was the colour grey. Lifting her head from where it was currently situated on top of her outstretched left arm, she began looking around. Lying on her side facing what she thought was the wall now turned out to be steel bars. She was in a cell and in a big building, which looked like an abandoned warehouse. She was lying on a cold concrete floor and for once she thanked the fact that she had decided to wear a shirt and trousers that day.

"Hey….you okay?" a voice caused her to snap her head up and to her left, where another girl sat propped up against the bars. Her clothes were torn; her hair looking like it hasn't been brushed in quite a long time but the part that scared her most was the various scars that seemed to travel up her body.

"Um…. not sure, I think so" Felicity stammered out but as she went to raise herself a sudden pain flared up in her side causing her to wince. Resting her body back down again, she carefully lifted up her shirt and glanced at the wounded skin underneath. A blistering purple bruise covered the majority of her stomach, limiting her movements.

"That doesn't look too good" the other woman explained.

"Who are you?" Felicity asked, turning back to her again being careful of her movements and trying not to jolt her injured form.

"My name is Eleanor, but you can call me El if you want it's much shorter to say"

"I'm Felicity but since it's a bit long to say, you can call me Liz….um…..what happened to you?"

"They break you, trying to get what they want from you"

"Where the hell are we?" Felicity was panicking now.

"All I know is that you're somewhere that you don't want to be" by the way her body tensed up Felicity instantly knew that something wasn't right.

"Ah look the new bitch is awake and ready to get started" a deep voice broke their attention from each other and to the man walking into the room. He was wearing what seemed to be a uniform with straps containing guns and weapons of all sorts; his hair was sandy brown/blonde with piercing green eyes. Cuts and scratches littered his face, creating an atmosphere that Felicity didn't like. He was a fighter, a soldier that did what he had to do to survive and right now his main focus was on her and truth be told she didn't like it _one bit_. Halting just outside of her cell he seemed to be checking her over but she wasn't sure what he was looking for. Seconds later he was inside, grabbing her foot he attempted to drag her out but her instincts kicked in and possessed her, forcing her foot towards his groin making him double over in pain, clutching his possession tightly.

"Woops" Felicity stated with _such _enthusiasm, glaring at him. Head snapping up, his eyes vented his fury and threw her over his shoulder.

"You're going to be such fun to break" a shudder ran up her spine at his words and the tone that was used. Carrying her into the next room over, Felicity could see that she and El weren't the only ones in there. Cells were scattered everywhere, girls and women ranging from different ages trapped inside. Felicity must've counted about over a hundred, that again sent a chill right into her bones. Her attention was snapped back to where she was being taken. El's voice echoed through her mind, _they break you_, and what the hell did she mean by that. Well looks like she was about to find out. Suddenly she was being man-handled again and chained up with her feet clean off of the floor. Her vision began to blur once again, the crack of the whip and her muffled screams, from where she was biting her bottom lip to the point of drawing blood, echoed through the half empty room.

* * *

The team were watching Felicity's memories of what had happened to her and Oliver found his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides when he saw her being taken advantage of by several men, who he seriously wanted to put an arrow in. However, he couldn't help the surge of pride whenever she caused somebody pain. Glancing over at Felicity's reaction, she seemed to be shifting her head from side to side slightly but not much she didn't seem to be that effected even though by what had happened but what if her sub-conscious state _knew _that something worse was going to happen? The weirdest part was when she saw Eleanor he saw tears brimming in her eyes; like she knew that something bad was going to happen. The point where they had seen all the girls and women they had in the building, it made his stomach churn. When they watched her being tortured, especially from her view of the whole thing, he was tempted to pull her out of the machine and just hold her in his arms until those bad memories just disappeared but she had told him and everyone else that she _needed _to know and _under no circumstances _were they to stop the process. Everybody else was watching the screen closely for the faces, while Aiden was running a search of the various men. He remembered being tortured back on the island but from the scars that permanently marked her skin he knew that it was only going to get worse. He must've counted at least three days of torture for Felicity, but the part that had gobsmacked him was Eleanor's turn was up for the beating and they all saw that she was clearly in no shape to possibly survive any more so to everyone's surprise Felicity had attacked the man going for El and instead had dragged her into the room. That had gained gasps and muttered curses and death threats from the rest of the group, including him. Those bastards were going to pay, they're going to be begging for mercy by the time he's finished with them, nobody messes with his girl and gets away with it. At one point Felicity had looked down at her body in the cell, her entire body was littered with cuts, bruises, wounds and scarring skin. The worst one was a big, gaping knife wound covering her abdomen. When they heard Felicity muffling her screams it was like a living nightmare for him to watch, how in hell did she survive _three days _of this and still manage to fight off the men. She was stronger than anyone gave her credit for. He was sure those screams were going to haunt him for week's possibly even months. Oliver had forced himself to turn away from the screen, struggling to tramp down his fury, to the wall and equipment behind him but remembered how Felicity was still bearing the torture so as long as she was being forced to endure it then so would he. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse. It did.

* * *

"Liz" El whispered through the bars.

"Yeah" Felicity responded, slightly groaning.

"I want to give you something, just in case something goes wrong"

"El, nothing is going to happen to you I swear to god I _won't _let that happen"

"Still, I wanted to give you this-" El said while removing her necklace and placing it around Felicity's neck, looking down at it was a wolf howling at the moon "-never take it off, this way I'll be with you no matter what"

"El…I can't"

"Yes you can, and you will…no excuses"

"Fine but here-" Felicity said taking off her anklet "-this way I'll be with you as well….I picked this up before I went to college and ever since it's been my lucky charm and now it's your lucky charm"  
"I'll take good care of it, I promise" glancing down at her ankle, now wrapped around it were two pieces of string connected by a dragon pendant.

"Likewise", and with that they gripped the others hand tightly, treating it as if it was their lifeline and allowed sleep to overtake them. But Felicity stayed on her guard, not one second dropping her defences in case something bad was to happen.

* * *

Oliver felt his tears rising to the surface when he saw the scene playing; it was as if they knew they weren't going to survive. Looking back at Felicity again, her head was beginning to slowly lower. It truly showed that she didn't feel safe enough to even fall asleep there, depriving herself of sleep wasn't such a good idea but sometimes it couldn't be helped. It shocked him to the core to see how loyal Felicity was to somebody that she had just met but acted like she had known her for years, she was truly remarkable, so selfless not caring about her own health but the safety of Kat's. She repeatedly checked her face and he instantly knew what she was looking for and right now it was plastered all over her face. A look of peace and contentment. How did she do that? How could she make someone feel so relaxed and safe, yet the managed it in that hell hole they had to live through. Oliver couldn't bring himself to even look away from the scene, he was truly captivated by how Felicity's presence can make all that bad almost disappear into thin air. Suddenly she began tracing something in the dirt in the corner of her cell; it made his heart pound into his ears when he saw what it was. An arrow. Everyone knew that Felicity referred to their little night-helping-the-vigilante group 'Team Arrow' and while at first he'd hated it, soon if became extremely catchy and so-Felicity and everyone in the team began calling themselves it.

"Keep fighting Felicity, you can do this….remember….stay alive, save them all, get home…or at least try" they heard her whispering to herself. The fact that she had to constantly remind herself of things like that, she must've really been struggling with the whole ordeal.

* * *

Felicity was half conscious when El had warned her of the incoming men that we heading their way, these men were the ones that both of them dreaded. Her body felt like crap, honestly she had no idea how she was managing to survive all of this but she had to keep fighting. Over the past few days the girls had begun to see Felicity as almost a role model, so she couldn't let her pain show through to give them something to hold onto. She felt her life ending when the leader pointed directly at her, her heart thudding loudly in her chest was the only thing that she could hear. She was going to die. Well if this was it and she wouldn't be able to see her friends, whom had since turned into her family, again then she would at least make them proud, to die fighting. Oliver had survived a personal view of his father's death and wrath of those psychopaths on the island and the entire experience had made him a better, stronger and more worthy man than before. Digg had survived the nightmare of the army and the terrible things that held, Sara survived a shipwreck _and _the island _and _the league of assassins then Roy had been strong enough to survive being dosed with mirakuru. Following in their footsteps Felicity would either survive or die fighting. A man appeared in her cell and was dragging her across the floor towards the 'Room of Silence' as she and El called it. She could see El screaming 'NO' from her cell as she was hauled away from her, tears streaming down her face. Something must've caused her to black out because the next thing she knew she was being strapped to a table and instantly knew what it was for. The room stunk of death and decay. Attempting to free herself by tugging at her strains, she knew that there wasn't any use but it didn't stop her.

"Anything you'd like to say? Beg for mercy maybe?" a man asked.

"Yes….all of you can go personally _fuck_ yourselves, no wonder why you have to keep us trapped in cells because no other women would even think for a second about staying with you pathetic bastards!" Felicity spat out, enraged.

"I'd watch your tongue or else-"

"Or else _what_, what are you going to do to me that you haven't before?" Felicity growled, gritting her teeth together and booting him right in the face. During the entire time she had managed to keep her trainers in quite a good state. He looked completely and utterly _pissed_.

"You're going to pay for that one but for now let's see if you really are as strong as you seem to be…survive this bitch" the sandy haired man stated before plunging the syringe into her neck, not one second did she stop fighting him. Felicity lashed out at the surrounding men, landing blows to faces, stomachs, chests and even somewhere that the sun doesn't shine. All of sudden waves of hot burning pain coursed through her body, causing her to arch her back, fully lifting herself off of the table. Screaming out in pure agony, all she knew was pain and blurry faces. Suddenly getting restrained down against the table, Felicity felt the serum starting to take effect. Arching her back clear off of the table beneath her, she had her head thrown back as the fire began claiming her as its own. Her body began slowing down. Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her head, she could feel changes happening to her. Then suddenly everything went black. The last sound she heard was El screaming out her name.


	4. Chapter 4

By now Oliver was absolutely fuming. This was his worst nightmare coming true, Felicity getting hurt and there he was being forced to watch helplessly, knowing that he _should've _been there for her. To save her, to protect her like he promised all those years ago. He saw what she was doing for the other girls, not showing any pain to give them a foothold in the hellhole they were being forced to live in. Before he had admired her fighting spirit, she never gave up on anything and he had always wondered to what extent that went to and she was continuing to shock him every step of the way. The moment the dead man walking said 'survive this' he felt his heart get wrenched right out of his chest, the part that gave him goosebumps was the tone that he used, it was like he almost expected her to die. When El began screaming 'no' from her cell he _knew _something bad was going to happen and honestly from her voice, she sounded desperate to help Felicity but there was something else hidden underneath that he just couldn't pinpoint. Even being injected with a serum that was beginning to take effect on her body and movements she still fought. Her screams echoed in the warehouse as he could hear the agonising pain she was currently going through. At least once he knew exactly what she had gone through he would be able to understand more easily and try and help her on her quest for justice on the jackasses that did this to her. This time he wouldn't let her leave his sight for even a second, he didn't care if she could take care of herself; he would stay by her side until she finally came home.

* * *

Blinking open heavy eyelids, her eyes finally focused on the neighbouring objects. The first thing Felicity saw was a bunch of unknown men surrounding her once again.

"Well look the sleeping princess is finally awake" a familiar deep voice said, his voice sounded almost shocked. Moaning lightly Felicity blinked a few more times until everything went back to normal again.

"What did you do to me?" Felicity growled out, not caring at this point. Her body felt like she'd gone through hell and back, what happened to her?

"Have you ever heard of mirakuru? Well what we injected you with is much stronger than that, you'll be more deadly than anyone" all the time he was explaining, Felicity could tell he wasn't telling her something, she didn't know how but she trusted the feeling. She finally noticed something didn't feel the same. She felt stronger, more powerful and capable of something more.

"You're stronger, stealthier, more agile, and more intelligent than you were before" another man explained "but you work for us"

"I work for _nobody _especially not _you_", Felicity ground out, anger boiling over the top. It was then she noticed that her vision wasn't the same; she saw specific objects with a keener eye than before. She knew what the feeling was, to escape.

"We'll see about that but for now, stay here" he threw over his shoulder before exiting the room.

"Fucking dickhead" Felicity cursed while looking over to the sides at her arms, which were currently locked in handcuffs connected to chains. Glancing over at her right arm, she began tugging at it quite forcefully.

"Heck with it" and with that she heaved both arms towards her, arching her body to gain more momentum, she flipped off and landed swiftly, gracefully and effortlessly on the floor. Bending her knees she ended up hunched over on the ground.

"What?" she muttered. Hold on a second, she couldn't even move before, lifting her shirt she was shocked to see that the wounds weren't littering her body. She'd healed. A couple seconds later, a swarm of armed men flooded into the room and her instincts possessed her in that moment. Grabbing an old stick, she managed to take out the small army that had been the ones torturing her and El. It was like she was dancing with the staff, it felt like it was a part of her almost like a third arm or something. Not even stopping to take a breath Felicity saw, heard and felt the men around her but something was happening that she couldn't explain. It was as if there was somebody else inside her, controlling her movements because the next moment every single one of them was knocked out cold on the floor in a dog pile. An idea suddenly hit her, chaining every one of them up in the same position she had been in Felicity turned and exited the room without looking back. Striding through the hallways with her new found confidence, she navigated herself easily straight to the switch that unlocked all of the cell doors, releasing all the girls from their cells. Hmm even navigation came easily to her, like somebody was in her ear telling her where to go. Snapping back to reality, Felicity made her way back to the cell El had been in and the state of her surprised her. Her face was red and puffy like she'd been crying for ages; her body was crumpled up in a pile on the floor like she didn't have any bones but when she saw Felicity everything happened so quickly. Walking right up to her, El threw herself at Felicity and sobbing onto her shoulder, hugging her tightly.

"I thought you were dead" Eleanor stammered out between each sob.

"Hey-" Felicity pulled back so they locked eyes "-I'm right here….and besides, did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?" she smiled and Eleanor returned it, "trust you to make anything seem funny"

"Part of my natural charm"

"We need to get out of here, what happened to the sicko's?"

"They decided to take a little nap"

"I'm not going to ask"

"Best idea because right now, all of us are going home" Felicity said while lifting El to her feet and telling her to go and help the other girls escape but also give them all a drink that they would seriously need. All the girls were standing in a group, some helping each other. Making their way through the hallways they finally made it outside and were met by a gust of wind while the sun shone dazzlingly in the sky, where all you could see was blue and marshmallows that were waiting for you to lay your head down on.

"You didn't think we'd just let you go did you?" a voice caused all heads to turn behind them. Spinning round Felicity saw the army of men standing stationary with the guy she had locked up in chains; apparently he had others on call in case of emergencies. Her senses were tingling but she didn't know what it was for, after everything she had managed to do though she decided to trust those senses. "You belong to _us _now and you're just going to have to accept that one way or another"

"Well then if you want me-" as she was talking, she was slowly moving towards the men but she had stopped El and the other girls from following "-then you'll have to catch me first" and with that she took off tearing towards the building, dodging all the men and glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were all following her. The serum gave her an extra speed boost that she immediately took advantage of to make sure she had a large distance between her and the men still trailing after her. Navigating through the halls like she'd been doing it for a long time Felicity finally entered a wide room and locked the doors behind her, by showing a broken plank of wood through the handles. Moving over to a bunch of wires and working quickly to strip certain coloured wires and basically create a match, which she hid behind her back and prayed that they would fall for her innocent act, during the whole time she could hear them trying to break down the door. Finally succeeding in their attempt to get into the room they all crowded in, stopping a few metres in front of Felicity.

"You're at the end of the line, you've got nowhere else to run…..YOU…..ARE…MINE" the bastard yelled out, walking towards her so he ended up just out of her personal space.

"I'd rather personally stab myself and feel my blood pour out of my body then EVER BELONG TO YOU and besides did you really think it would be this easy?" Felicity snarled, revealing the makeshift match she had hurriedly put together.

"You wouldn't"

"Oh…I wouldn't underestimate me, because you never know what I'm capable of doing" she said before flinging the wire over to a plank of wood, which instantly caught fire then spread it across the room. The man roared, turning his frustration back to her again, who was just smirking at him which only infuriated him even further, swinging his fist towards her but she caught it and twisted it behind his back and lowered her mouth so it was right beside his ear.

"You stripped me of the one thing that truly mattered to me…..my innocence and I that's something that I can _never _get that back again" Felicity whispered before breaking his arm. "For the past week you've put me and everybody else through torture and now I'm going to do the same to you" she snarled before tossing him onto the floor like a rag doll but exactly how she was a few days ago.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Oh that's the best thing, you'll definitely know what I've done to you….but you won't see me coming" and with that she made her way through the doors while the men saved their own lives, leaving their boss on his own. Running back through the hallways again, Felicity had to divert off of the original path she had taken because the fire had caught up with her quicker than she thought it would. Racing down the corridor, Felicity was somehow on the second level and she knew that there was only one way out. Smoke flooded the room, forcing her to inhale its fumes. She could see the window that they had passed when they dragged her through the corridor and approached it at a steady speed before leaping through it. As she threw herself through the air, she hunched her body as tightly as she could so when she went through the window it won't pierce her chest or head, keeping the two most important places safe. Glass scattered, she could feel shards piercing her skin but she didn't have a choice it was either jump of die. The height that she was forcing herself to fall would definitely injure a normal person but it didn't seem to faze her as she landed gracefully on her feet before once again sprinting off.

"RUN!" Felicity screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring the smoke she had inhaled. Knowing that the fire would catch the whole building on fire and that's when it certainly got interesting. The other girls followed her lead. At the corner of her eye she could see a shard of glass deeply imbedded in her right upper thigh. As she ran, the several other pieces of glass embedded in her body began making themselves known but it wasn't as bad as if it would be if she didn't have the serum flowing through her veins but even with it anyway she powered through the pain, blocking it out. Glancing back over her shoulder it seemed that all the girls seemed focused on her and getting themselves the hell away from the place where they'd been tortured for weeks on end. The girls were definitely wearing their bodies out; Felicity could tell by the way they had slowed their paces. Returning her gaze forwards, her eyes scanned the horizon for anywhere to make up camp. This was the first chance she'd had to finally see where they were situated. The building they'd been in was actually in fact an abandoned warehouse that had a thick wall running around the perimeter of the area, effectively trapping them in twice. All around them were naked trees making up a dense forest that honestly looked really creepy and almost haunted. She didn't really have a choice, directing the group into the trees they all slowed their pace considerably and began weaving round tree by tree. They all stayed within a close distance of each other at all times, buddying up so if they got themselves lost they'd have each other. Reducing her pace to a steady walk, Felicity began the task of choosing somewhere to stay the night.

"Lizzie?" a voice broke her attention off of the forest ahead, which was beginning to run thin, turning round to Eleanor they walked side-by-side while she spoke "what's going to happen to us? Truthfully as well". To be honest she wasn't expecting that question to pop up.

"We're going to get somewhere safe to spend the night then discuss what we're going to do next" Felicity supplied, answering her question as well. The rest of the group needed the truth but not the entire truth because she wasn't sure if they would be able to hear it. They were somewhere that Felicity wasn't certain of and it was like they were stuck in the middle of a maze, there were so many different paths to take but they had to consider the consequences. If only they could find out where they were and see how far they were from Starling then it would become significantly easier. Focusing back on the trail all there was were trees. Suddenly Felicity saw something in the distance; it was a break in the trees leading them to a hillside and near the mid-section there was an opening that looked distinctively like a cave. "El, stay here….I'm going to go and check it out"

"Be careful" El managed to shout as Felicity took off into a gentle jog to reach the cave's entrance. Cautiously entering, she started investigating everything the cave had to offer. Including a stream that flowed through the cave at some point. This would have to do for the night. Making her way back to the entrance of the cave again, Felicity motioned for the rest of the group to head up.

"Make yourself as comfortable as you can, this is going to have to do for the night" Felicity stated after they had all piled in. Settling herself down, she started to tug the shards of glass out of her body and immediately her body started to heal herself like all she'd done was pricked her thumb. This was definitely going to take some getting used to. All the girls had gotten themselves as comfortable as they could, despite the situation, while Felicity on the other hand settled herself near the entrance so if anyone found them she could get to them quicker. Well it definitely looks like she's pulling another all-nighter. Glancing to the side at the sleeping forms cuddled close to each other for warmth, Felicity knew that she'd give up a thousand of sleepless nights just so this lot could be safe. Eleanor had fallen asleep beside her and was now using her lap as a pillow while another girl rested her head on Felicity's legs, looks like she's an acting pillow for tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating for a while guys, but anyways here is the fifth chapter of A Change of View, hope you enjoy it and please review. Thanks.**

Watching intently, the team were shocked to the core when Felicity broke free of the chains also revealing how quickly she had healed from the wounds that had been inflicted upon her then proceeded to beat the living crap out of the men like she'd been practicing it for years. The way that she basically danced with the old weapon almost as if it had been her third arm or something was so graceful and so well done they almost couldn't believe it was their Felicity doing the actions. Oliver promised himself that he'd help Felicity achieve what she set out to do but also relinquish pent up aggression on the bastards that had been in the process of Felicity's living nightmare but also the other girls as well. Observing how Eleanor had practically lunged herself at Felicity when she returned to the cell to free her and everyone else had twisted something in Oliver, how she always returned to those she'd met along the way. There and then Felicity could've gotten herself out of harm's way and said good riddance and saved herself but instead she continued to risk her life to help those around her. Would she ever stop surprising him? A question that was answered by one simple answer; no.

"I'm going to kill those little bastards when I get my hands on them" Digg muttered, he had become almost like a brother to Felicity since she didn't really have much family left. Digg said the words that everyone else was thinking and it was clearly obvious in that one moment when they all shared the same look.

Having to watch as Felicity trumped all the men with her expertise, even being clearly taken out of her comfort zone, showed her ever growing strength to protect and fight for those around her.

Lighting the building on fire had been an ingenious plan to use and Oliver felt proudness over his I.T girl surge through his body like roaring flames. But when she threw herself through the window, taking all the shards of glass into her skin like they were nothing made a wave of anger through him also. Why would she take a risk like that? She didn't even know where she was going to land. It was a gamble, he knew better than anyone what gambles could result in and he didn't want to see her go down the same path as him.

From the way she landed effortlessly on the ground below without a single fault, he knew that she now could take care of herself exceptionally well but it didn't stop him wanting to protect her, to be honest it just increased that level of protectiveness all the more.

Both he and Digg could see the survival tips Felicity had picked up on when training with the two guys because she executed exactly what he would do in the situation perfectly well. It didn't matter how fancy where you slept was, as long as it; was safe, was secure, was warm and you would be sheltered then it shouldn't matter if you have to sleep with a snoring son-of-a-bitch.

Felicity had shown the perfect qualities that every great leader should possess but it didn't really surprise him or anyone else to be honest. From the way she'd guided the rest of the team on the comms during missions Oliver always knew she'd make a great leader someday. They saw her returning her gaze to the darkening sky, keeping on guard during the night just in case somebody found them sleeping. Just when he thought they would have to witness another vile memory of the terrorising month following Felicity's kidnapping, she began twitching and as the seconds passed they began to get more and more violent.

"Aiden what the hell is happening?!" Oliver yelled attempting to tramp down on his rage that was slowly starting to build up and it wasn't budging.

"I think this is a way of her sub-conscious warning her not to go any further, so she's fighting to get out of the state she's put herself in" Aiden clarified as Felicity began yanking on the chains encaging her wrists, acting like she was almost being tormented. He couldn't bear to see Felicity-_his _Felicity like this a second longer, his sweet, innocent, animal-loving, tech genius best friend- slowly turning into something more _wasn't _supposed to be experiencing things like this, that was his job. He was supposed to protect her. He'd _promised _he'd protect her and he failed her.

"What do we do?" Digg asked, close to the same state as Oliver. Felicity was like a sister to him and swore on his life that he'd protect her through thick and thin, always stay by her side to give her somebody to fall back on if she ever was to slip through the cracks.

"We have to wait until she wakes up" said just as Felicity's eyes shot open, gasping for air like she's just been drowning.

"Felicity!" Oliver tried calling out to her. He was about to dart towards her but was cut off by Digg. When the cuffs released her, her body slumped down towards the ground and she swiftly positioned herself, landing gracefully on the floor, crouched down with her right hand slightly raised to balance herself.

"Liz? Are you alright?" Aiden's voice broke the silence that was gradually growing. They could hear her breathing heavily but her gaze continued to be fixed to the floor beneath her.

"Felicity?" Oliver slowly walked up to her; he knew from past experience what Felicity was going through and how to approach her without starting her off. Gingerly rising to her feet, Felicity made her way across the room to the stairs with the look in her eyes to run.

"I'm going out for a run" she stated simply before taking the stairs two at a time, exiting the warehouse but before she got to the door Oliver's voice sounded through the space,

"I'll come with you" and his tone was one used as _this-is-my-final-decision-so-deal-with-it _and it wasn't to be trifled with. When they exited the warehouse Oliver trailed after Felicity, who seemed to know exactly where she was going, to an empty field that included; a rugby pitch, a running circuit and some old buildings.

"I tend to come here, to vent my anger and it helps a lot" Felicity stated. Lining herself up at the beginning of the relay circuit, Oliver not making any move at stopping her, and sprinted away. At the pace she was running at, and keeping up a steady speed, Felicity was completing about a lap every minute.

"Oliver, is she alright?" Digg's voice came through the comms and Oliver's guess was that Aiden had opened up the Bluetooth on his earpiece that he still had in his ear.

"Yeah she's fine just venting off some smoke…hey Aiden, did you know how fast Felicity could run?" he asked curiously.

"Yep, how fast is she currently going?" Aiden questioned.

"Quite fast, like a lap of the relay circuit every minute and right now she's at 15 laps"

"Geez, yeah running is one of her favourite methods of releasing pent up anger because if she has too much built up then let's just say, she can turn pretty nasty"

"Basically I end up as angry as the Hulk, and it makes me much closer to becoming something I've spent two years trying not to become" Felicity's voice came through and Oliver saw she had slowed down to a gentle jog, coming over to stand beside him.

"What's that?" Roy asked

"A monster" Felicity stated simply, "come on let's get back"

"You're not a monster Felicity you know that?" Sara said as if the easiest and most obvious thing in the world.

"Thanks Sara" Felicity said while walking down the stairs with Oliver's hand intertwined with hers.

"Um Liz…there's someone at the door upstairs" Aiden said showing the camera feed.

"Is that…Laurel?" Felicity asked, brows drawing together

"What is she doing here?" Sara joined the discussion.

"Well what now?" Roy asked out loud

"How did she find us?" Oliver said aloud the question that was in everyone's minds.

"No clue, but let's go find out"

"Wait" Oliver said before gently grabbing her upper arm, turning her into him, "are you sure? It is your secret"

"Is she part of your team?"

"Yes but nobody wants her on the team, she just gets herself into too much trouble" Roy stated, taking a seat on the bed he'd occupied last night.

"Well if she's on the team…and besides she'd find out sooner or later…probably later though"

"I'm coming with you" Oliver, Digg, Sara and Roy said in unison which made Felicity's face erupt into a face-splitting grin.

"Come on" leading the rest of the group upstairs to greet(ish) Laurel, and maybe to ask why the hell she was there and how she'd found where they were but also it gave Felicity a brilliant opportunity to show her friends her house where she'd stayed for the two years. Maybe she should've showed them that there was a house upstairs that they could sleep in instead of sleeping in the basement.

* * *

"Wait there's a house up here?" Roy looked really ticked off and it made her laugh, but she didn't let the laughter out because from the look on his face he really wouldn't appreciate it at all.

"Yeah, I guess I should've told you guys about this part…so, um….oops"

Located in another corner of the abandoned warehouse laid another staircase that lead up to a house above ground, which was medium-richness value. Not exactly a mansion like the Queen's but not like her old house in Starling City, or should she saw the other side of it at least since she was still in Starling City.

Everything in sight looked so modernised but it still clung onto that old side of Felicity that everyone missed exceptionally, bright colours seemed to pop out every noun and again. The whole place was light blue but more white than blue. It wasn't exactly big but it definitely wasn't small either. The first room that they saw was what people thought was a basement or the ground level, but anyway it housed a gym.

Punching bags hung from the ceiling, yoga mats lay stationary in front of mirrors or walls, gym machinery were near the middle of the room but in the centre of the room encircled by white marble pillars were a flat-screen TV with a pivotal base that allowed a view from any point in the room. It looked beautiful and so Felicity and they hadn't even seen the entire place yet.

Going up the stairs, it lead the group to the kitchen that was separated by a single counter from the living room next door, both of which looked marvellous. The kitchen was painted a deep sea blue that went well with the rest of the house. It was simple yet elegant. An island lay in the centre of the kitchen, drawers and cupboards littering the outside of it, providing storage for almost everything apart from refrigerated foods. Counters, holding even more storage, laced the perimeter of the island in the middle but also housing the; fridge, oven, dishwasher, sink, washing machine and dryer. Above the oven was a medium-sized window that showed a great view of the neighbours.

Next up was the living room, which looked picturesque, in the middle of the sofas was a glass coffee table and around it was one of those long, right angle sofas. The walls were painted a light purple while the couch were white with light blue pillows. Covering the majority of the floor was a black, fluffy rug that looked so comfortable you could fall asleep on it there and then. The 60-inch TV dominated the room, while secured to the far wall for all to see the HD quality, with bookshelves of different varieties of objects surrounded the TV.

"Aiden let Laurel in" Felicity's voice broke through not only Oliver's trance, soon remembering why they had come up there in the first place.

"Guys I've been looking everywh…" the rest of her sentence trailed off as Laurel saw Felicity standing in front of her. Blonde hair let loose to curl over the shoulders and dance down her back, while she rocked a pair of jeans and a blue and white striped long-sleeved shirt, which showed off her curves in all the right places. Meanwhile Laurel wore a grey work suit, her long brown hair coming down to rest around her shoulders.

"Felicity?"

"Yeah, wait you remember me?" Felicity said with little persuasion.

"Yes course, you were the I.T girl on the team…what happened?"

"Long story, still learning"

"Laurel how did you find us?" Oliver asked impatiently.

"You all have trackers don't you" Laurel answered like the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey Felicity...can you finish off giving us the tour you probably didn't know you were giving" Digg asked with a hint of a smile.

"Hmm…sure, what's next?"

"Bedrooms" Sara supplied before they all set off after Felicity up the stairs in the living room with Laurel trailing behind Sara and Roy. Altogether there was about three bedrooms and they all had their uniqueness. The first one was a brown coloured room, which was mainly because of the wood used, that had a simple double bed and attached bathroom, even though each of the bedrooms had an attached bathroom, while the quite wide window was situated furthest from the bed and opposite the bathroom. The whole room had quite a scenic view to it as well. Felicity said that Laurel and Sara could use the room if they wanted, which Sara had promptly accepted gratefully. The second room was slightly better than the first for Digg and Roy because it was more of a male room anyhow, the layouts basically the same apart from it didn't include as much wood and the bed was wider, to both Digg and Roy's relief that would definitely reduce any awkwardness around the pair. However, the third and final room was always Felicity's favourite and most frequently used. The room had a relaxing atmosphere to it, the colour used was mostly light blue and a little black, the bed was so comfy it was always so hard to get back out of again. All three bedrooms had the same layouts but this one was slightly different because it was actually an overhang. A wide floor to ceiling length window covered half of the right wall, which when wanted used beautiful curtains to conceal the room's privacy and the people housed inside. Oliver insisted that he and Felicity share that room together.


	6. Chapter 6

**It looks like quite a few people like liking the story, so I'm happy for that. For all of you guys that have already reviewed, favourited and followed this fic, thank you a lot- it makes this process so much easier knowing that people like my writing. Anyways hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

An hour later the team were sat in the living room watching TV while eating dinner when something suddenly caught their attention. A very loud alarm sounded through the entire house, which made Felicity instantly run to the lair to see what had tripped off the alarm. Hearing footsteps behind her let her know that everyone else was right behind her.

"Aiden what's happening?" Felicity questioned, positioning herself in front of the big screen to see what he was pulling up.

"There's been a hit on that scan you asked me to run, downtown there's going to be a burglary taking place in about two hours from now…the aim is a flash drive in the control room…we have to get that drive before they do or who knows what chaos will go down"

"So that's the mission, get the flash drive…should be pretty simple" Oliver commented, earning a confused look from Felicity, "what you didn't think you'd be going in alone did you?"

"Like you said it's a simple mission…I'll go in, get the flash drive and get out before they see what I'm up to" she clarified before heading into what looked like a wardrobe.

"Don't you need to get ready?" Roy asked, obviously needing an explanation and so when Felicity opened the door to reveal a walk-in closet, he got one.

"Wait, so what are the rest of us going to be doing?" Laurel asked. Just when Felicity was about to explain, Oliver beat her to the punch.

"Felicity and I will pose as a couple to get into the party while everyone else stays here, since it is just a quickie mission"

"What if something goes wrong?" Sara asked.

"Tranq darts should do the trick" Aiden explained, "you good to go Liz?"

"Yeah, just give me an hour to do everything else" Felicity explained to Aiden, and with that she disappeared into the closet, closing the door behind her.

* * *

About an hour later everyone had gotten themselves prepared for their part of the plan. Oliver wore a black Armani tuxedo with a black tie, while everyone else had changed into comfort clothes, apparently they had taken a drip back home again while Felicity was changing. When a door opening echoed around the room, the rest of the team swivelled round to see Felicity striding out of the closet. It was pretty safe to say that Oliver's jaw hit the ground. Felicity was in a sheath black floor one-shoulder evening dress. The sides of the dress were almost non-existent, with crystals running up the single sleeve, under her breasts and down the sides of her dress. She had her hair up in a chignon type French braid style, which was held up by pearl bobby pins. The whole formal outfit was finished with a pair of cute black pumps littered with rhinestones. Well this was definitely going to be harder than Oliver thought. _Wait was that dress backless_ he thought when she turned around to finish pulling the stockings up, the dress managing to cover her backside but it left little to imagination. _Oh she was not leaving his sight _he promised himself.

"What's everyone gawking about, it's not like you haven't seen me in a dress before" Felicity's voice broke the team members back to reality again.  
"Well that dress really puts on a show doesn't it" Laurel's jealously was being put on full display.

"That's the point it's gets men's attention, especially with the back, so I can slip into certain places undetected and besides this was _supposed _to be a solo mission anyways" Felicity shot at Laurel, irritated by her constant emotions getting in the way.

"So you ready to go?" Oliver broke up the mini cat fight going on between Felicity and Laurel. Placing his hand on her bare back, already claiming it as his territory, it didn't even faze Felicity in the slightest.

"Not quite" Felicity said while going over to a keypad and typing in a code. When the hatch opened, it exposed a wide variety of different weapons. Grabbing what looked like a garter belt, she latched it around her right thigh before prepping it with an assortment of knives, tranq darts and a small hand gun. Grabbing her clutch, which probably had a load more weapons, Felicity exited the weapon room. "Now I am"

"I always over prepare, just in case of emergencies, I've been in quite a lot of situations where I needed to escape but I had nothing to defend myself with so yeah"

"Huh…you really are a badass" Roy huffed in amusement.

"Thanks…I think"

"Anyways, Felicity you ready now?" Oliver said, breaking up the conversation between Roy and Felicity. With her nodding her head yes, they exited the warehouse.

* * *

So far the mission was going perfectly. They had gotten into the party and everything had gone down without a hitch. Felicity was currently at the bar grabbing a glass of champagne when Aiden voiced through the ear piece.

"Felicity small problem, in the control room if you go in there with the Bluetooth on then they're going to catch you as soon as you get in there" Aiden informed her over the ear piece.

"Fine, new plan, I'll go in there alone…have you still my tracker on?"

"Yeah good plan…be careful"

"Gotcha" she replied, looking for Oliver and finding him chatting to a small group of couples, "excuse me, could I borrow my date for a moment?"

"Of course" one of the men replied while checking her figure out. Oliver must've noticed this because he slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her into his side. Trying not to punch the little creep in the face, Felicity forced a smile onto her face and fisted her hand to suppress the urge to break his nose or in this moment, his entire face.

"What is it?" he asked as soon as they were a safe distance from other parties so nobody would overhear their conversation.

"There's been a slight change of plans, if I go into the control room with my ear piece on then they'll know I'm in there, so I'm going in alone without it but-" Oliver attempted to butt in but she continued anyway "…I'll have my tracker on and Aiden will know my position every second of the time I'm in there" giving him a quick peck on the cheek, Felicity went to walk towards the control room but her movement was stopped by Oliver towing her back into him again. Thank god for her new ways because she swiftly twirled herself so she didn't end up colliding with his chest.

"You're not going in there alone, I'll come with you"

"Oliver it'll look conspicuous if you come with me, besides I'll be fine…I can take care of myself, I've been doing it for two years now"

"I don't care, I lost you for those two years and I'm not prepared to lose you again…so deal with it, I'm coming"

"You are the most irritating man I have ever met"

"You love me really"

"You sure about that?" and with that she walked off in the direction of the control room with Oliver in tow, who subtly turned his ear piece off.

* * *

Gaining access to the control room was easy with Felicity's fingers flying over the keyboard at the speed of light; Oliver kept watch for any guards.

"Felicity someone's coming" Oliver warned

"O…kay…al…most…done and done" Felicity narrated.

"There's no way we can get out unnoticed" Oliver hissed.

"Yes there is" Felicity said, earning a confused look from Oliver, "sorry" she said before Felicity pushed him up against the wall with her lips against his. His surprised state lasted a few seconds before his one of his hands cupped the back of her neck, the other wrapping around her waist hauling her as close as humanly possible while he flipped their positions. His control that he had been trying to hold onto for the entire night quickly disappeared as he pushed into her further. He had been waiting to do this for so long and now he couldn't get enough. He wanted more. He _needed _more. Attacking her mouth and sending a stream of heavy kisses down her throat and across her jaw, seeking out her lips once again, neither of them noticed the guards approaching them until they heard a throat being cleared.

"Excuse me sir, you're not supposed to be here, this is off limits to guests" the guard seemed obviously distracted by Felicity's dress also, even if it was rucked up around her waist.

"Sorry just wanted some privacy you know" Oliver replied breathlessly, not making a move away from her.

"Of course sir…hope the both of you are enjoying the party" replied the other guard that had stayed silent through the duration of the conversation.

"Well, I'm just going to go and freshen up" Felicity said to Oliver, hopefully passing the message of '_you can get off of me now' _on clearly. Stepping away from her slightly, Oliver's eyes looked darkened with lust and something else that she couldn't name in that moment. Message received.

* * *

Once in the bathroom, Felicity checked her hair and make-up and was glad that they were still intact before moving onto the next task. Making sure there was nobody in the stalls, Felicity popped her ear piece back in and switched it on.

"Aiden did you get the information?"

"Yes and I also installed a virus that others will get if they try and steal the drive, plus I sent a copy to the police, who are on their way so you two might want to get out of there A.S.A.P"

"Okay, I'll go get Oliver now, see you guys when we get back" Felicity said, switching the Bluetooth off. She couldn't believe that she had just done that with Oliver, even after two years there was still that passion that had been lingering around the pair for the duration that they had worked together. Now she just had to focus on the remained part of the mission, getting out. Hopefully he will as well. Exiting the bathroom, her eyes instantly found Oliver standing over by the bar. When he saw her, his eyes darkened and his jaw tightened. Well that definitely answers the 'did he feel what she did' question. Moving back over the floor towards him, Felicity's mind was still whirling while she closed the distance between her and him. "The police are on their way so we need to get out now"

"Already ahead of you" Oliver said, wrapping on of his arms around her waist and securing her to his side once again. Getting in the car and supplying the driver with the address, the entire ride home was completely silent.

"We're going to have to talk about this you know, about what happened outside of the office" Oliver stated once they had been dropped off outside her house.

"Oliver there's nothing to talk about the kiss was to keep our cover and it worked, conversation over"

"Wait…are you telling me that you felt nothing when we kissed?"

"I can't because then I'll be lying…okay I admit it I felt something but it can't go anywhere…remember what you said to me after Russia…that you can't be with someone that you could really care about"

"Felicity I was wrong because I said that so you wouldn't get hurt, being with me is dangerous but I can't stand _not _being with you though…that's the problem"

"Oliver you weren't wrong about it…you were only trying to protect me but I've seen that relationships end up with both people getting hurt or something even worse happening…it's just best to avoid being in one at all costs" Felicity said, wanting to get this talk out of the way before they both went back inside her house.

"No, I don't believe that…I want to be with you Felicity…before I was just scared of you getting hurt but in the end we both ended up getting hurt anyway, I want you Felicity…all of you"

"We can't"

"Why?"

"Because we may live the same lives, but we're completely different"

"Opposites attract and besides that's what I thought the first time I met you"

"What happens when you back to your life again? If you want to have a relationship with someone, be with Laurel" Felicity said while trying to enter her house but Oliver blocked her way, not allowing her to enter the house because once she did, they would act like this never happened and he didn't want that.

"No I don't have a future with her, I don't _want _a future with Laurel…I want one with you"

"Well you can't have everything you want, that's how life is and you can't change it, no matter what"

"Felicity tell me the truth, do you want a future with me too?"

"Yes I want a future with you but it just can't happen" Felicity tried to explain without revealing the truth that only Aiden knew.

"Why Felicity? Tell me why and I'll let you go" Oliver was being stubborn again. She needed to get away from him, he couldn't know but he wouldn't loosen his death grip on her wrists. "Tell me why"

"BECAUSE I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I'M GOING TO _HAVE _A FUTURE ALRIGHT!" Felicity snapped, eyes blazing but shutting out the tears that were battling to get out.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked, bringing her closer to him. Well she already said it so he might as well know the full thing. Taking a deep breath, Felicity explained further.

"I'm not the only person to be injected and live, someone else has" trying not to say the next part.

"So?" he emphasised, encouraging her to explain herself more.

"So he lived for about two years and few months then he died because of the damage the serum did to him" she confessed, shutting her eyes tightly to keep the flood of tears away. When she opened them and looked into his eyes, she could see a battleground of emotions taking place but he looked like someone had just socked him in the gut.

"What?"

"This was what I didn't want to tell you guys and exactly why I didn't come back, well _one _of the reasons anyways…and now you know, _that _is why we can't be together" Felicity's walls came back up again, guarding her emotions intensely.

"I still don't see the reason why we can't be together and you still could've come back to us for help" Oliver replied, releasing his hold on her and pulling her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her to him. After a few seconds Felicity burrowed herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his torso and cushioning her head into the crook of his neck. "I don't care about anything as long as you're in my arms"

"What about Laurel?" Felicity tested him.

"Still don't, I care about you Felicity…I always have"

"I'm sorry I didn't come to you lot but I owed it to myself to fix myself before anything else, I couldn't be the one that hurt anyone of my friends"

"Well like Digg said, you're here now and I'm not letting you go…seriously, I've spent the majority of the two years you were gone blaming myself for not growing a pair and letting you see how much I truly love you and it gave me _a lot _of time to think about it too…living without you by my side is worse than those five years on that damn island"

"You shouldn't have blamed yourself though, nothing was your fault but I didn't exactly leave you alone for all of those two years" this made him pull back slightly so he could see her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I've kept up with you all over the two years, checking you guys were still alive and all…besides did you really think nothing happened to you when you guys were kidnapped?"

"You saved us?"

"Yep, I made sure nothing bad was going to happen and got you four down from being chained up, that's why you woke up in the building across from the one you were in…safe and also I tailed you when you went looking for trouble"

"Why didn't you stay with me?"

"I couldn't, I knew if you saw me when you woke up, you'd never let me go again"

"Damn you for knowing me so well" this earned a laugh from Felicity, "thank you for protecting me and saving us all"

"No problem and besides, I was working on something of my own"

"And what's that?"

"I'll show you" Felicity said, shuffling out of his grasp (which he didn't like at all) and taking one of his hands in his and dragging him into the house and down to the lair, where the rest of the team were.

"Hey Ollie, what happened?" Laurel commented first, completely ignoring Felicity but the action wasn't noticed by Felicity, who tugged Oliver over to the main monitors.

"Aiden, show Oliver what we've been working on for the past year or so"

"Okie dokie" Aiden replied in a sing-songy voice, pulling up information on Thea that they have been collecting.

"Thea? You found her?" Oliver seemed gobsmacked by the act she had done for him, without him even knowing.

"We've been keeping up-to-date with Thea as well…she's okay but the main thing is she's happy…although she does miss you though and someone else too" throwing a glance back at Roy, who looked as happy as Oliver did.

"Why did you do this?"

"Because I thought that I owed to that, for everything you did for me…oh and Digg, you don't have to worry about Deadshot anymore"

"What?"

"Let's just say that a certain someone paid him a visit and maybe have threatened him, trust me you don't want to know the rest" she explained while walking over to a series of monitors running along the side and pulling up everything they had on Deadshot.

"A certain someone?" Digg commented, raising an eyebrow. Shrugging she said a little bird told her. Before she could escape, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her high up into the air, hugging her while whispering 'thank you' in her ear.

"You know you never cease to surprise me" Sara said with a huge smile on her face.

"Thank you Felicity" Roy said, hugging her too.

"Don't expect a hug from me" Laurel said, crossing her arms.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you" Felicity replied darkly, before heading off to get changed again.

When Felicity returned, the stars were high in the sky and the moon looked like a horseshoe.

"Alright I think I'm going to hit the sack, Roy you coming?" Digg said, tossing Roy a questioning look.

"Yep" he replied, heading up the stairs with both his and Diggle's duffle bag. Yep definitely popped home and grabbed a few things while she was changing Felicity thought before Oliver basically dragged her upstairs to bed. Halfway up the second set of stairs, she tried saying that she wasn't tired to Oliver but he didn't reply, he only turned her way and threw her over his shoulder and said that he didn't care, she was coming to bed. While hanging there over his shoulder, Sara was just laughing silently the entire time, because she knew Felicity could get out of that hold any time she wanted.

* * *

Settling herself under the covers, Felicity closed her eyes as she heard Oliver finishing up in the bathroom. Climbing under the covers, Oliver wrapped an arm round her waist and pulled her to him like she weighed nothing but a few pillows. Deciding that she can't be bothered to fight him, so instead just laid her head down beneath his chin while the rest of her body tangled itself with his as his right arm locked her into his side, not leaving her a way to escape him during the night.

"Night" he breathed out, completely relaxed and content with the world.

"Night" she replied, closing her eyes and succumbing to sleep. Now that he had found her, Felicity guessed that she wouldn't be leaving his side for a while.

* * *

**Btw if anyone wanted to see what Felicity's dress/hairstyle/shoes looked like here are the images I referenced from. I had to get the hairstyle off of Google so that's why it looks like a maths equation. :P**

**Dress: _ . /2014-Sexy-Sheath-Black-Floor-Length-One-Shoulder-Evening-Dresses_  
**

**Hairstyle: _ . /search?q=Chignon+type+french+braid+with+pearl+bobby+pins&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=mKDeU-STKYPP0QW7lICgBg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1252&bih=572#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=lEvgKF1ECOwgyM%253A%3B1i0jitC8xWjhcM%3Bhttp%253A%252F% .com%252F236x%252Fbd%252F54%252F01% %3Bhttp%253A%252F% .com%252Fexplore%252Fparty-hairstyles%252F%3B236%3B236 _**

**Shoes: _ pin/29906784998285269/_  
**

**They all would look incredible if Felicity wore them so yeah.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Morning came quickly for Oliver. Normally it was rare for him to get a good nights' sleep but falling asleep with Felicity in his arms, he found himself being met by pleasurable dreams of her. Last night when Felicity had kissed him as cover to not get caught by the guards, a spark ignited a fire that had been extinguished when she had been taken from him, it still didn't help that waves of deep, dark feelings for her had crashed through his entire body. He couldn't stop thinking about it, the way their bodies fixed together like puzzle pieces. Ever since he found her Oliver found himself unable to stay away from her, even for a second because, honestly, he never wanted to spend any more time without her by his side. Those two years separated from her were truly worse than the island and to tell the truth, he was close to breaking point. When they had worked together as partners, he had taken that for granted. So the statement 'you never know what you had until it's gone' is true in every single way. Eyes fluttering open, taking in his surroundings, his gaze fell upon the empty space next to him where Felicity had occupied last night. Throwing himself forward he scanned the room for where she could've gone. The door to the landing was ajar; did she go to have breakfast?

* * *

Checking everywhere for her, Oliver finally heard noises coming from the basement. Following the trail, he found Felicity exercising on iron rings quite a few feet in the air. She was dressed in a purple sports bra and black running shorts, he noticed how her body had changed, her muscles being more toned and more visible than they did before.

"Felicity?" Oliver voiced, gaining her attention.

"Morning" she replied, not pausing in her training.

"How long have you been down here?"

"Since about five" replying while flipping over and landing perfectly and gracefully on her feet just in front of him. Looking at the clock on the monitors, which Aiden had running series of scans; it revealed the time to be just-turned six o'clock.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Sure"

"By any chance, do you have a Salmon Ladder?" he grinned, flashing the look that he normally gave her when he caught her staring at him working out.

"Turn around" and standing behind him, stood a Salmon Ladder facing Felicity's iron rings. Things were going to get interesting now.

"So have you spent the entire time on those rings?"

"Yep it's one of my favourite training exercises"

"Is it better than my favourite being the Salmon Ladder?"

"You tell me" she answered before taking a running start at the wall and propelling herself off and onto the rings.

"Show off" Oliver muttered under his breath

"Heard that, why you jealous?"

"Jealous…me? Pfft…no" he replied in an obvious _I'm-so-jealous-right-now-but-I'm-too-Oliver-to-admit-it _voice, positioning himself under the bar and working up a good momentum to the next level and so on. Focusing back on her training, she built up momentum to swing herself up into a handstand on the rings and started a series on press ups.

* * *

"Felicity?" Oliver asked, about half an hour later.

"Hmm"

"You know when we kissed last night…" the beginning of his question paused her in her training to glance at his upside down form hanging from the bar of the Salmon Ladder, "…did you feel anything towards it?"

"You mean was I affected by it?"

"Yeah"

"Then not exactly"

"What do you mean, _not exactly_?" his entire focus was training on Felicity still hanging from the rings, signing Felicity explained.

"I wasn't affected because when I'm on missions and things; I don't exactly have my emotions turned on" Felicity clarified, dropping from the rings once again and leaning on the stand with her arms crossed.

"What?"

"With me, every feelings, every emotion I feel can simply be turned off…it's like flicking a switch"

"So what if it happened again while you're emotions were turned on, would you be affected?" while he asked the question, Oliver had been edging closer to her and now stood right in front of her.

"Not quite sure"

Oliver leaned down and brushed her lips with his own. It started out as a gentle and sweet kiss but soon turned into one of passion. Oliver's tongue demanded entrance, which Felicity gladly gave. He wrapped his arms around her waist, one rising to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss, and hauled her against him, removing any gaps between the two. Felicity's arm banded themselves around his neck in the process. Breaking apart to drag in needed oxygen, he rested his forehead against hers.

"I've waited so long to do that" Oliver admitted, making Felicity laugh.

"You know I would've woken you up but you looked so peaceful just lying there, besides I know how rare sleep is now-a-days so I just left you…and you were _supposed _to stay there longer though"

"Well I would've if there had been a certain person beside me when I woke up"

"I don't usually get a lot of sleep and so when I wake up I generally come down here to train"

"Not anymore, you do realise that if I see you getting up without my approval, I'm dragging your ass straight back to bed" making Felicity lean back to look up at him she answered.

"Is that a threat?"

"Nope, that is a promise" he stated before diving in for another heated kiss, sliding both hands down to the backs of her thighs to pick her up and making Felicity wrap her legs around his waist, already feeling that he was getting excited, and walking her into the nearest wall. Breaking apart once again to breathe, Oliver gazed into Felicity's deep blue eyes.

"Felicity, Oliver? You down here?" Digg's voice broke them out of their trance. Smirking at the growl that he released at being interrupted, Felicity stole the bar to the Salmon Ladder and completed a set and a series of pull ups at the top of the ladder while everyone else piled into the basement but not before he gave her one last passionate kiss and hidden underneath lay a promise. Felicity knew exactly what the promise was.

* * *

"Roy you're losing focus!" Oliver sounded angry but a hint of pride that he still put his ass on the mat in less than 5 seconds. Glancing down, Felicity saw Oliver and Roy sparring on the mats while Sara, Digg and Laurel watched on. Instantly she saw where he was going wrong and helped out, to Oliver's dismay.

"Roy spread your feet, it'll even your stance and you'll have more power and security behind it" Felicity supplied, still hanging from the bar.

"How did you become so good?" Roy questioned when Oliver pulled them into a five minute break.

"I didn't really have a choice in the matter but I've got advantages that others don't" she explained while dropping down from the bar.

"So you believe you're all that then" Laurel snided from her position beside Sara with a clear view of Oliver.

"Doesn't matter what I believe as long as you survive your next fight and not get your ass handed to you then you could convince yourself whatever you want" Felicity shot at her and she closed her mouth, clearly not expecting that response.

"What advantages?" Sara asked

"My body reacts quicker than the average person does, instinct kicks in whether I want it to or not" focusing back on her training.

"Okay then, prove it" Laurel interjected, obviously not knowing when to butt out.

"If it gets you to shut up then fine, whatever" Felicity replied with a slight bit of spite in her tone, not going unnoticed by the rest of the team. Making her way over to a training room, Felicity shut the glass door and put on the blindfold.

"What is she doing?" Laurel wondered out loud

"You wanted her to prove it, so she's proving it in a way you can see how keen her reactions truly are" Aiden chirped in, "you ready Liz?"

"Yep" Felicity said while positioning herself in a stance with a staff in hand. From the walls shot thousands of arrows, definitely getting the attention of the team who shouted 'what the hell is she thinking', and easily defended herself from the attacks using a range of various actions. It didn't even look humanly possible, like she could see through the blindfold. Removing the blindfold and replacing it where she found it, she exited the room and into the main training room with her team member's jaws dropping almost to the floor.

"How-How did you do that?" Roy stuttered out, looking from the room to Felicity again.

"Like I said my body reacts quicker than a normal person…it's both a curse and a gift" Felicity admitted.

"Someone likes showing off" Laurel annoying voice registered once again, cracking her control more and more.

"What the hell is your problem?" Felicity turned to her, crossing her arms.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, what is it?"

"I have no idea what you're on about" flipping her hair over her shoulder like she's so 'perfect', pfft…that's a load of bull.

"How long did it take you to train for that?" Oliver asked curiously.

"I didn't" grabbing a bottle of water from her desk, "I don't train to improve myself, I train to control myself"

"Why?"

"Well everything is heightened and that includes my anger, I use most of this equipment to take my anger out on"

"Makes sense"

"She's come a long way from how she first was, before Liz didn't come anywhere close to the amount of control she has now" Aiden chirped in, pride in his voice and gaining a smile out of Felicity.

"How bad was it at the beginning?" Digg came over to stand beside Felicity.

"You see that big dent over there on the wall..." Aiden guided their lines of sight towards the wall where a huge dent was located, "...take a wild guess who did that when they lost their cool"

"Got to admit, wasn't my best hour"

"Jesus christ Felicity, how mad where you exactly?" Oliver was shocked.

"You know when Oliver gets _really _mad at something, times that by like a thousand...that much"

"Hey Ollie…could you give me my lesson now please?" Laurel sweet-talked, battering her eyelashes and bringing the attention back to her again.

"I guess so" replying, getting himself a bottle of water beside Felicity. Re-emerging in _very _tight gym clothes that showed quite a lot of skin, Laurel got herself ready at the mat, waiting for Oliver. Needing something to do, Felicity made her way back up the Salmon Ladder and secured the bar on the backs of her thighs then hung upside down then swung back and grabbed her ankles.

"Alright you need to focus on your attacker, follow his movements and adapt yourself to the fight" Oliver stated to Laurel, who was looking at him quite intently, while making his stance wider, getting a smile out of Felicity that he followed her suggestion.

"Now what?"

"Come at me"

"What?"

"Come at me Laurel"

"Okay" she came at him with moves that they'd taught her but Oliver moved quicker and swept her legs, causing her to fall back on the mats, with an 'oomph'.

"You need to concentrate on what your attacker is doing at all times because otherwise you'll lose the fight and probably your life"

"How do I do that?"

"You can't get taught everything in life Laurel, you need to find a way to figure out his pattern…at the end it's either fight or die"

"Why does this have to be so hard?" Laurel whined and Felicity had to hold in a scoff at her words.

"Not everything in life can be handed to you easily; you have to fight for it…besides I didn't have it easy, it was live or die for me so consider yourself lucky"

"Lucky, how? Lucky as in I get to fall on the mat within ten seconds of a fight, how am I going to survive an actual fight if ever it happens?"

"You'll have to find a way; you know what the strongest instinct is?" Felicity asked while still upside down.

"What?" the fact that Laurel actually seemed interested shocked Felicity to the core.

"The instinct to survive so never doubt it" returning to her starting position of just hanging there upside down by her legs.

"How did you do it?" this made her freeze in her tracks and look down at Laurel, "So?"

"My _choice_ was ripped out from under me so I didn't really have a choice in the matter"

"What do you mean 'ripped out from under you'?"

"Laurel, just leave it" Oliver growled, stepping in front of Laurel.

"Why do you always stand with her? Always protect her when clearly she doesn't need it?" jealousy was rising in her voice.

"Because I love her, I always have" he admitted, causing Laurel to gasp and tears begin to brim in her eyes.

"I thought you loved _me_ Ollie"

"So did I but it turns out that I haven't loved you for a _long_ time"

"Does she love you?" she asked just as Felicity changed her position to hanging from her hands and dropped down to stand behind Oliver, "Well do you?"

"Not that it's any of your business...but yes I do, I always have and I always will", this made Oliver spin around to face her and looked at her with such emotion also a question lay hidden beneath his gaze, 'really?'.

"Hey I've got an idea what about Oliver vs. Felicity in a sparring match?" Roy chimed in, looking pretty pleased with himself for coming up with the idea.

"Challenge accepted" he agreed, looking back at Felicity.

"Game on"

* * *

Positioning themselves at either sides of the mat, they began circling each other. Oliver made the first attack but didn't land a blow; Felicity followed his attack with her own and landed a punch to his stomach. He lunged forward but she twirled around last second and flipped herself over his back and before he registered what just happened, sweeping his legs he landed back on the mat with an oomph but he wasn't done yet. Sweeping her legs they landed with him atop her on the mats breathing heavily and he was pinning her arms down above her head. Her instincts roared to life but she controlled it, waiting for the perfect moment to act.

"Give up?" he asked, pretty proud with himself. That was his mistake but he didn't seem to realise that.

"You'd think so would you" she retorted, using momentum from her legs and pushing up to flip them over head-first so she was on top of him, silencing him with a smirk. Leaning down she mused "You were saying?" Trying to find an escape route out of their current position, he rolled them over but it just allowed Felicity to put him in a headlock and wrap her legs tightly around his waist from behind. Lowering her mouth to the shell of his ear, she whispered, which also sent a spark of electricity through Oliver's body, shuddering, "Give up now?" Wrestling to get out of her headlock, it proved useless because whenever he was close to figuring it out, she tightened his grip around his throat.

"Fine" he admitted reluctantly. As soon as she loosened her grip around her throat, he replied with another move that had them in quite an intimate position with her legs still wrapped around his waist and his body solid hovering above her. When he looked down, she saw his eyes had darkened but he was met by a smirk.

"Did you let me have the upper hand?" Oliver questioned with a slight bit of anger, which didn't stay long as it was overrun by something that he barely had control of in their current position.

"I have no idea what you're on about" she teased while shoving him onto his back and rising onto her feet, "By the way _never _lose focus, even if your opponent is a woman" offering her hand to help him up.

"I didn't lose my focus" he whined, accepting her hand.

"Sure you didn't" Digg chimed in, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. Sending a glare his way, Oliver joined Felicity in a five minute break, grabbing his bottle of water that he had started earlier.

"Hmm…the big, bad, scary vigilante gets his ass handed to him by a woman" Sara teased him.

"Are you two done making out yet?" Roy cut in with a wide smirk at Oliver. While everyone was smiling, Oliver had his game face on.

"You think you can beat me Harper?" he dared him. That got him to shut up.

"You're on"

"This isn't going to end well" she muttered, jumping up onto the table behind her. Believe it or not, five minutes later Roy was pinned to the mat. Oliver was behind him with Roy's right arm twisted behind his back.


	8. Chapter 8

**This getting more complicated to write. Anyways here's the eigth chapter, I can't believe how much you guys like this story. If there's anything anyone would like me to include in this, then please feel free to send them in. It makes writing this much more fun in the process. Btw in future chapters, Felicity will be getting closer to the one answer that she is dying to know. _What caused her to forget? _Enjoy!**

Felicity had been staring at the machine for a good ten minutes before Aiden finally broke her out of her make shift trance.

"You want to try again, don't you" it was more like a statement than a question.

"Is it bad for me to want to know my memories, to know the rest of what happened to me?" Felicity replied, crossing her arms in a protective move.

"No it's not bad, just remember what happened last time…you fought yourself to get out"

"I know"

"But that's not going to stop you is it?" Oliver's voice joined the conversation, as he descended the stairs, shortly followed by everyone else.

"Not really" her attention hadn't wavered off of that machine the entire time she was there and she was pretty sure she hadn't blinked for quite some time.

"What's so special at that machine?" Laurel asked, oblivious to the rolling eyes she received.

"It's how she sees her memories" Roy supplied but not anywhere near a friendly response.

"Felicity, in the end…it's your decision since it is your life, so it's your choice" Oliver came over to rest his hand on her shoulder, in a comforting gesture.

"I'll probably kill myself from suspense" huffing in amusement, getting the same reactions out of everyone else apart from Laurel…shocker. Stepping over to the chains, Felicity moved to position herself beneath the frame. Once again Digg and Oliver came over to give her a hand while Sara and Roy clipped on the handcuffs.

"Are you definitely sure about this Felicity?" Digg confirmed.

"No but I'm going to do it anyway" she answered with a knowing smirk. Digg answered with the same reaction. Relaxing herself and opening her mind, this time she wouldn't show any weakness…she couldn't if she wanted to know all of what happened to her.

"This is your last chance to back out Liz, you definitely sure?"

"Bring it on; I survived two years like this so I know I survive what happened…besides how bad can it be?"

Three words, famous last words.

* * *

Eyes shooting open, Felicity shifted out from beneath all the girls that had been using her body as a pillow for the night, she moved to the mouth of the cave and scanned the area for a possible threat.

There amongst the trees were several black figures searching through the area's contents for something and she had a piercing feeling that they were what they were searching for. Another thing she noticed was that she had a keen eye even at night time; it was like she was wearing night vision goggles. Keeping herself in the shadows that the night provided, Felicity moved to wake the other girls up and move them somewhere else as quickly as she could.

"El, El…wake up, wake up" Felicity shook Eleanor's shoulders in an attempt to wake her up, after a while she finally woke and the pair proceeded to wake everyone else up.

"Liz, now what do we do?" Eleanor asked and she made a poor attempt to mask her fear because it was clearly evident in her voice.

"Um…" Felicity had to make shift a plan and quickly. She scanned the area for something, anything that they could use to their advantage, then she remembered when she had first searched the cave she had seen a back exit. "…you lot are going to go out the back exit while I distract them long enough for you to get everyone to safety"

"Liz, no…you are not going to sacrifice yourself for us again" El tugged on her arm, halting her in her movements to exit the cave.

"We don't really have another choice here, look after you lot get far enough away, I promise I'll try and meet up with you guys again but for now get yourselves clear from here alright" Felicity ordered, exiting the cave.

Submerging herself fully into the shadows of the cliffs, she spared one glance back at the cave to see if the others had ran and to her relief, there wasn't anyone there.

Coming up with another plan, Felicity started off in the complete opposite direction that the girls had taken, leading the men away from them and right into a trap. Earlier during their escape, Felicity had seen bear tracks leading into a cave, so if she was able to remember which one then it was then she could lead them straight to the bear's paws. Not reducing her speed at all, Felicity kept up a steady pace through the forest.

"This stuff isn't half bad" Felicity muttered quietly, so she was the only one who could hear.

Returning her attention back to what was in front of her, it then registered that there was a giant four legged figure approaching her at quite a speed. Focusing, Felicity's pace didn't falter at all as the figure appeared to be the bear that had made the tracks she'd seen earlier.

Something took over her body in that moment and when she looked back she wouldn't be able to name what had possessed her to pull-off the action but just before the bear made contact with her, Felicity launched herself into the air once again and soared over the top of the bear, twisting her body in mid-air so she executed a barrel roll in the air before landing elegantly on the ground, not stopping her movements at all. Looking over her shoulder in time to see the men get attacked by the bear and shots fired off into the air, oh well waste of bullets.

Taking an opportunity to catch a breath, which she wasn't quite sure she actually needed but also it gave her a chance to get her bearings straight.

"Dig in" Felicity mused to herself, "why can I picture Digg saying that?" A twig snapping brought her attention back on the surrounding forest encircling her, emerging from the dark came a dark figure followed by a bone chilling voice.

"Who are you? What is your mission here?" the figure demanded, stopping several feet from where she stood.

"I could ask you the same thing, being all mysterious…are you with the dead men?" Felicity questioned. The expression on his face changed as if he recognised something about her but what exactly, that part puzzled her.

"I see you have a fighting spirit young one…tell me, how long have you been breathing with the serum poisoning your blood?"

"Who wants to know?" a broken branch lay within arms' reach, considering it as a last resort in case things turned nasty.

"Come with me and I can teach you everything I know about it" he said while reaching out his hand.

Just when she opened her mouth to speak a chill shot up her spine and she knew something was off with the girls. Something she'd learnt was to trust her instincts because in the end, those were what were keeping her alive and safe.

Turning back to the path she'd just taken, Felicity scaled her two options; go with the mysterious man who knows about the stuff transforming her into some sort of weapon or go help her friends, her sisters.

"Tough choice?" at his remark, she realised she must've said that out loud, _dammit _"You can change the way this all ends, believe me" the man stated.

"That's the thing…I'm already dead" Felicity exclaimed before taking off towards the direction she saw the girls heading.

Tearing through the dense forest, she noticed that she could run _much _faster than before and she had a lot more stamina.

Reaching her destination, the first thing that Felicity observed were the girls getting backed up into a valley and the next was that right in front of her was a colossal ravine that you didn't want to fall down because the chances of surviving the drop were extremely low. Thinking on her feet, Felicity came up with a plan to separate the girls from the challenging men. Positioning herself at the top of one side of the valley, Felicity started a rock slide using boulders much bigger than the men, effectively keeping both parties on either side but more importantly the girls on the safe side.

She however, wasn't as lucky.

"You just can't keep yourself from meddling in other people's business can you?" the leader roared, teeth gritting and clearly pissed off.

"And you just can't stop yourself from fucking up other girl's lives that you have clearly _no business _with, can you?" Felicity shot back, anger on full display.

"Watch your tongue bitch or you'll be sorry" he said, shifting closer to her but staying a few feet away.

"Coming from the guy whose ass I kicked several times before, that means…absolutely nothing" Felicity shot at him, anger disappearing quicker than it'd appeared.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" he bellowed, "none of this would've happened if it wasn't for _you_"

"I take that as a compliment…you just suck at keeping women, tell me, is that why you lock us up?"

"They're all going to die! And there's nothing in this world you can do to stop it!"

"Nothing, now I consider that a challenge…besides there's always something I can do, but for now…" Felicity trailed off as she speared him in the gut, sending them both soaring over the edge and straight into the opening of the ravine.

"Goodbye bastard, hope you go burn in hell!" she uttered to him before pushing him into the sides of the cave.

Felicity noticed that the sides were beginning to become narrower, this could be used to her advantage, and she needed a way to decrease the impact at the bottom to heighten her chances at surviving. Guiding her body into the sides, Felicity launched herself off of the rocky surface and onto the opposite wall to do the same thing. "Come on!" she murmured to herself before she found an edge to grab onto, only for it to give way when she applied her full weight.

Plummeting down to the hard ground below, her body smacked against the ground at a hard force and as Felicity heard the cracking of some of her bones, she released an ear piercing scream that she managed to muffle against the skin of her arm. So now she just laid there in agonising pain and waited for either death in a slow and painful way or for somebody to find her and kill her. This was what her life had come to, she wouldn't even get to see her new found friends face's ever again, which sucked a load of different ways.

* * *

When they began watching her memories, this was _not _something that he was expecting.

Something that he's learned for watching her in that month following her kidnapping is that Felicity always managed to surprise him. She was showing such loyalty towards the people she had just met, once again sacrificing her life for them. Her closest friend, Eleanor, despised quite a lot. It was being proved time and time again that Felicity was adapting to the serum more and more as time went on, using its ability to come up with escape routes in tight situations like using the aggravated bear to her advantage at taking down the men trailing after her.

Her little remark on 'dig in' and Digg saying that got a chuckle out of everyone apart from Laurel, who was shocked at what Felicity, had just done.

"She doesn't remember any of this?" Laurel asked the team.

"Nope, that's the reason why she's doing this…but you missed the worst part, how she got those scars on her chest and stomach" Oliver said with gritted teeth.

"What happened to her?" Laurel was actually showing concern for Felicity, which by itself is shocking.

"Kidnapped, tortured, injected with a serum almost similar to mirakuru but worse, escaped by setting a building on fire and jumping out a three-story window, survived, saved all the other girls in the process and spent the night in a cave" Oliver summarised for her.

"She threw herself out of a three-story window!? And survived?" it was rhetorical question.

"Yep, not a scratch at the end of it to…thanks to the serum"

"Well what can we say; our girl's a fighter till the end" Digg stated, proud of everything Felicity had been able to do. The rest of the team, sans Laurel, agreed with the statement.

Focusing back onto the screen once again, a strange and mysterious man approached her, offering her knowledge about herself. The whole time, Felicity had a broken branch in her line of sight, ready to make a leap for it but never did. Oliver registered the 'I'm already dead' line but ignored it; this wasn't the time because he was focused on what happened next.

But the next event taking place would probably give him nightmares for months. Felicity falling into the mouth of a deep ravine.

"What the hell is she thinking?" Laurel's voice, once again, voiced in the basement.

"Laurel, shut up!" Roy threw out, focusing on the screen.

Oliver had to force himself to look away as she made contact with the ground with great impact, muffling her shriek of agony. The sound of bones breaking following soon after. This was _not _normal; you don't fall from that great a height and survive. It's impossible.

Looking over at Felicity's suspended form, nothing in response, does it get any worse than this? He didn't think it was even possible. It left the question lingering in the air around him.

_Does it get any worse than this?_


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter 9 and in the next chapter things are going to be getting a little interesting for Felicity and the team, to watch. Enjoy!**

Not done fighting yet, Felicity tried to push herself up onto her feet but failed, ending up crumpled up back on the ground like she didn't have a bone in her body. Growling in frustration at not being able to do a simple act, she slammed her fists back down on the floor.

"Still fighting huh" a voice broke her out of her attempts, snapping her attention onto the figure walking towards her.

"Who are you?"

"A friend"

"Yeah bullshit"

"Well believe me when I say that I'm here to help you" he said. As he came closer, he revealed himself from the shadows. He was much taller now that she was actually focusing on what he looked like. His short brown hair looked so rough it presented him in an image already and she hadn't even properly talked to him yet. He was dressed in black armour but it looked different from the others.

"What makes you think I believe a word that comes out of your mouth?"

"Because it's either trust me or stay here, who knows what will happen to you"

"I don't really have a choice here do I?"

"Smart girl, you catch on quick" he stated with a smirk as he moved to help her onto her feet, "Here lean your weight on me, until you start healing it's going to be a long time before you can walk on your own…especially with falling the height you did"

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because you've proved yourself in places not a lot of people have…you've proved that you're willing to put your own life on the line for strangers, that in itself shows something in you that I haven't seen in quite some time"

"But you don't even know me"

"Sometimes everything that you need to know about a person and their relations is all in their interaction with others, that's all I needed to know…and I got my answer loud and clear, but for now all you have to worry about is resting up for tomorrow"

"Why, what's tomorrow?"

"The beginning of your training"

"I'm sensing I don't really have a choice in this, correct?"  
"See, you're learning already"

* * *

They made their way through the forest at a steady pace towards what looked like a log cabin or a dojo.

Whatever you wanted to call it, basically it was a cabin in the woods.

It looked completely empty, or was it? Thousands of question swirled around in her mind at the sight of it hidden within the trees, using them as a shield from the world.

What exactly was she going to be learning here? Felicity could feel her body beginning to heal itself at a pace unknown to man. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't quite sure what the hell was going on with her. It couldn't be mirakuru since she wasn't bleeding; it couldn't be vertigo either since the thing she was injected with was almost like a silent killer. Maybe the people about to help here could shed some light on her current situation.

"Cheng, come out here and give me a hand" the man called out, his voice picked up a heavy Chinese accent.

"We were all wondering where you had gone, Sensei" Felicity didn't need to be told that the man, who was currently helping her, that commanded respect from the others in the house.

"You're safe now" she still didn't know the name of the one who had helped her.

"Where am I?" both men suddenly froze.

"You speak Chinese?" Sensei was the one that spoke.

"Wait what, I don't know any Chinese" she frowned, what we they on about?

"You're speaking Chinese right now, Neshama" then it finally registered, she didn't only understand Chinese but also spoke it fluently without even realising. What the hell was happening to her?

"How is this possible? I can't speak any other language apart from English" a slight edge of panic coated her voice

"It's alright Neshama, it's going to be new to you but now that you've been injected…you are able to understand and fluently speak various other languages now"

"Why do you keep calling me Neshama, what does it mean?"

"Spirited" the Sensei cleared up for her before leading her into the house.

Entering the dojo, everyone was dressed in white, fastened together by a black belt.

The majority of the house was the main room; side rooms lined the perimeter of the area. Looking up, the sun beamed in through the several windows around the higher part of the room. Pillars stood around the edge of the room, holding the whole place up. Up ahead she guessed the kitchen was, because the door was slightly ajar, revealing a woman working hard over a stove with a pot of rice.

"What am I doing here?" Felicity questioned softly, looking beside her at the Sensei, patiently awaiting his answer.

"You are here to receive my help and knowledge of your situation, come" he started towards one of the several rooms littered the edges of the main room. Upon entering the room, Felicity was stunned by its entrancing beauty. "For the time being, this will be your room…please be my guest" shifting herself towards the bed, she rested on the edge.

Holy Christ it was so comfortable. Finally she could rest her aching body. The room, in all, wasn't that big but it didn't really need to be. The bed was situated in the middle of the room, up against the wall, which had an exquisite traditional detail of a tree. Curtains framed the solitary window magnificently.

"Thank you…"

"You may call me Sensei, if you wish Neshama"

"Thank you Sensei" Felicity bowed her head. Sensei seemed to appreciate the action, replying by a slight nod of his head.

"You command his respect already" a voice cut her thoughts back to the doorway, in which Sensei had just exited through. "He likes you" a woman wrapped in a white, floral printed dress said.

"He barely knows me" she responded, bowing her head.

"Sensei can always sense the light in people, even when they can't see it themselves"

"It's funny, my friends used to say the same thing…that I was the light amongst the darkness…" she trailed off, smiling at the memory.

Seeing her reflection in the mirror on the wall opposite from her, she cut her attention back to the woman. It just registered that she hadn't come in empty handed; in her hands she held a tray with a bowl of rice and a tea. Coming to sit beside her on the bed, she passed Felicity the tray. "Thank you"

"You have a good heart, I can see that just from looking into your eyes, but you're careful with where and who your emotions lay…your scared of being hurt"

"Guilty, I haven't always been the best at sharing secrets with others…trusted or not, I've just been hurt too many times to continue trying…old habits die hard I guess"

"Don't worry, your safe her Neshama…everyone is respected and treated equally"

"May I ask, what is your name?"

"Lihua" she said before retreating back out the door, "Rest for now Neshama, you can train in the morning"

"I look forward to a good nights' rest, I haven't had the luxury for quite a while" and with that she was finally alone in the room.

She must've lost track of time. Wandering over to the window, the moonlight streamed through, casting a shadow across the width of her room. Wrapping her arms around herself, as if to protect herself, she breathed deeply. Why did she have a strange feeling that something was going to happen that could change her?

Staring off into the vast forest, Felicity was left wondering where life would take her next.

* * *

He couldn't watch it anymore. He couldn't take it, couldn't take knowing the fact that all of this happened to her and he was nowhere to be seen.

_How _could he have let this happen to her? Oliver reluctantly turned to the screen to see Felicity struggling to lift her body off the ground. When she just collapsed back down onto the ground after yet another attempt, he winced. He knew she was frustrated when she slammed her fist onto the ground. Why was she still fighting? Black swamped the screen, Oliver knew she had shut her eyes tight, but opened them when a voice suddenly spoke to her.

"Still fighting huh?" it was a male voice speaking to her.

Oliver didn't like the fact that the shadows hid the majority of the man's body; it didn't really give him a good first impression. He got a better look when Felicity looked at him and when he came out of the shadows.

From first glance Oliver knew he did martial arts, from the way his body was built. By the way Felicity's hands were still clenched into fists; he knew she was in defensive mode, ready to strike at any moment if necessary.

As the scene progressed and the strange man turned out to be a friend rather than foe, and helped Felicity through the forest towards his house, Oliver still couldn't stop the guilt suffocating him, he _should've _been there.

None of this should've happened. Felicity was supposed to stay safe, be the one person in the team who was pure from the nightmares.

She was supposed to be the one person he could fall back on when all became too much for him and he felt like he was drowning. Well he felt like he was drowning right now and he could do nothing to stop it. Right from the beginning Felicity had always been beside him, even after all the possible back doors she had received, she never accepted the offers. At first he wasn't sure if she was just being stubborn or saw something in the team that he didn't but she stayed true all the way.

Since they were watching through Felicity's eyes, they missed the fact that the men were talking in Chinese and just thought their voices were heavily accented. But judging from the looks of their faces, Felicity was actually the one speaking in Chinese and she could understand everything like they were saying it in English.

After a few minutes, when she was alone in her room, Felicity wandered over to the window and looked off into the forest. Arms wrapped around herself like a shield, the fact that she was injured was now forgotten, they could all tell (apart from Laurel) what she was thinking about. The next step in her journey.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry I haven't updated for a while so here's the next chapter. I've got to admit, it wasn't _as _much fun writing this one but hopefully you guys like it anyways. As always, please _review _and tell me what you think. I'm always open to suggestions. :P**

Felicity had kept track of her duration from the number of sunrises and sunsets. Six days. She'd been there for six days and what she had learnt so many things about the new Felicity Smoak.

Like the fact that she was more stronger and more agile than she'd ever been in her life, before she couldn't keep up a steady pace while jogging for over a period of time, someone would have to train for years to get to amount of stamina she possessed. Everything that she felt was heightened considerably; instincts, anger, fear (even though she could turn it off when necessary), adrenaline and various other emotions that a normal person felt.

Something that Felicity had noticed on her own was that she healed much faster than the average person was able to, almost twice (even thrice) the speed. Nobody had ever been risky enough to try it but they thought that the body could regenerate skin cells and muscle tissue to help repair any wound.

The anger, adrenaline and instincts were the main things to be wary of.

Her instincts was what were keeping her alive, safe and in the right mind but with her anger and adrenaline, at times they seemed to possess her without her consent to do so and there was nothing she could about it.

In situations, the instincts would be used, automatically, to keep the person safe and always in control of the current situation.

The coolest part was when Sensei explained that her five senses were each incredibly strong and independent, meaning that when one was removed or disabled, the others would instantly kick in and give Felicity the ability to see blinded.

They weren't quite sure how or what managed to do it, but Felicity was able to speak foreign languages that she wouldn't normally be able to speak, let alone understand like they're speaking in English, actually through her ears they _were _speaking in clear English. Sure, there were a lot of things that annoyed her.

One of which, she couldn't get drunk or high. Her body, all-in-all, was like an advanced version of the human body, a super-human body, if you wanted to call it that. But it was nothing like mirakuru, it was deadlier. She could not only outsmart a mirakuru soldier, but also out-strength (it's a word! _Maybe not) _one too.

However, with every advantage came disadvantages.

The serum, which they called 'Silent Shadow' because the one dosed, was like a shadow when necessary, could potentially, slowly kill her.

The part they feared the most was it was so easy to lose all control of your body.

She had to keep a tight rein of all her emotions taking place.

* * *

The Sensei was in the middle of giving out another lesson to his class when one of the members came rushing in, shouting something out frantically. From Felicity's position across the room, she could hear the increased rate of his heartbeat. Something had seriously scared him to make it beat that fast. She wasn't able to understand him through his constant mumbling and him catching his breath.

"Breath...Ziang...breathe, now calmly...tell me, what has you so flustered?" Sensei spoke in a calm and soothing voice, mimicking calming breaths.

"...there...were men...but Sensei...these men were different, I could feel it in my bones...they were out for vengeance, to kill"

This got everyone's attention.

There was complete silence in the room, everyone looking at Sensei. Finally she stepped forward.

"Ziang, what did these men look like?" when he looked her way, she got a viw of the fear in his eyes. That feeling you get when you know you life is at risk.

"They wore black armour...weapons all over them, guns, knives, spears, arrows...one of them- the leader -had a scar on his forehead" at this she was sure her face dropped. She'd shown him up in front of his own men, and now he was out either to destroy her once and for all or to create the weapon she was supposed to become.

"Neshama, don't...you do not have experience in combat"

"They've come for _me _and no one else, so I'm not going to allow anyone else to put themselves in front of me...this is my battle to fight and mine alone...besides I've outwitted them before and escaped more than once"

"One of these times including throwing yourself off the side of a ravine! I am not allowing this to continue!" when she attempted to interrupt, he was further enraged but she wasn't giving this up lightly.

"I can't let you fight on my behalf, they'll kill you, they..." motioning to the door, to the men "...have guns and will not hesitate to lay down fire, ridding themselves of any obstacle on their path to _me..._Sensei please, I can fight them I-"

"NO! You shouldn't have brought yourself into this in the first place" he took several steps her direction, stopping short in front of her.

"I laid my life down to save those of the girls, who couldn't defend themselves...I possess something they do not, so let me _use it_"

"You will do no such thing Neshama, this is my final word"

"Fine! Then let me draw them far away from here...you, yourself, have seen how fast I can run...I can outrun them easily, the serum will protect me...it's been doing so ever since it entered my system"

"How many times do I have to say no for you to see sense in your actions? Yes, it is true; you sacrifice has given those girls a head start that they will need but their main focus is on _you_!" his heartbeat had increased while their argument proceeded to stoke at a fire "_You _Neshama have survived something that would _kill _a normal person, nobody can survive what you can so take it as a blessing and instead of facing every single danger head on, live your life...appreciate the beauty behind it!"

"Where is the pointof that when everyone is going to get themselves killing in the process?! Please, explain that to me because I do not get it" standing her ground as he approached her, coming into her personal space, she wasn't backing down, he couldn't intimidate her.

"That is beside the point, you survive...everyone here agreed to it, and they knew what they were getting themselves into"

"Look don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of this but in the end this is my life so I am in charge of what _I _do and right now _I _am deciding to fight my own battles...heck with the outcome, I will _not _be responsible for the death of everyone in this building" Felicity ground out.

Even thought she could not see herself, she knew her pupils had dilated and she looked prepared to go into a fight.

"You are _by far _the most aggravating person I have _ever _met and trust me when I say, _that is not a compliment_"

"You can thank somebody back home for that...Sensei, I do not mean to be disrespectful to you for your kindness but I have to move on, to consider this another chapter in my story...let me lead them away from here and from all of you, because I do not believe I could live with myself if I allowed them to hurt or worse, kill, anyone of you because of my actions...I thank you for helping me but I have to go" her gaze had softened during her little heart-to-heart speech to Sensei.

Just by looking in his eyes, Felicity knew he had already figured she would have to be leaving them soon, to carry on with her journey back home. Wordless, Sensei accepted her terms and the fact she was leaving as well as he could.

"Then let us provide you with what you need for your journey, it is the least we can do"

"You have all already helped me enough by giving me a place to stay and the knowledge you have bestowed upon me, that is all I need for the next step...I thank you, _all _of you for your kindness"

"I insist" Sensei had the upper hand on this one, knowing she couldn't refuse, slowly bowing her head.

One of his men returned from a room she hadn't seen anyone enter the duration of her stay. Now lying in Sensei's hand, outstretched to her, lay a bo-staff.

Felicity had seen Sensei weild the weapon a few days into her training.

The bo-staff was foldable and when needed, switched to nun-chuks.

It was a useful weapon in combat because it was light and powerful, when used correctly. Sensei had taught her some advanced movements of defence and attack but couldn't teach her anyone because her instincts did the rest.

There was no point in declining since he would probably go into yet another argument with her, so to save time Felicity took the outstretched weapon from his hands and placed it into a holster on the outside of her thigh.

Lihua had provided her with the holsters as an early going-away present, since they had become such good friends.

"Thank you...I must be leaving now, I will lead them far away from this place...I promise" taking a last look around, she gave everyone a last smile before she disappeared off into the forest like a ghost in the night, towards the men she once, unfortunately, knew.

The dojo once again become nothing more than a speck within the increasing distance.

Behind her, the men chased but would never catch up to her.

"We will find you, mark my words!" the familiar man's voice screamed out across the ever-growing distance between them.

"Oh believe me, I look forward to it!" Felicity replied, seeking shelter in the shadows casting over the trees like a darkening cloud about to open up, letting loose a downpour.

She continued to run, never once reducing her constant speed. Not taking in her current surroundings, Felicity just managed to stop herself from running of the cliff. Thank god for her perfect balance. Looking down at her footing, Felicity fought to no tumble over the edge, teetering _right _on the edge. "Jesus Christ, that was close"

"I think she's somewhere up ahead! Find her!" voices where coming from the way she had come.

Looking around, Felicity couldn't see anywhere to go, nowhere to run.

She was at the end of the line.

The only way out was the cliff and something told her that wasn't such a good idea but she didn't really have a choice.

"Do not jump off that cliff…do not jump off that cliff…do not...ah screw it" taking off at a run, Felicity launched her body off the side of the cliff.

Colours blurred together as she shot through the air like a bullet out of a gun towards the ground below. Fortunately for her, she could see a deep lake beneath the point she had taken the jump. Taking a chance to quickly look around her, all she could see was mountains bursting out the ground in all directions. Every direction she chose would have a mountain in its path.

Brilliant.

Positioning herself into that of a diver, she heard the men shouting after her from atop the cliff but they wouldn't have the guts to copy her actions.

She could see how rapidly she was approaching the water. Moving her hands over her head, she broke through the surface and because of the momentum, charged deeper into its depths.

It was then she realised even underwater, her vision was clearer than before. This was kind of cool.

Arching her back, Felicity changed direction and swam towards the surface.

Gasping down oxygen, she looked where she had jumped from and saw the men searching for her then to her dismay, one of them took the leap of faith and plummeted down towards her.

Grabbing as much oxygen as she could, she dove back under and scanned everywhere for any possible escape routes.

Upon seeing a little cave hidden near the bed of the lake, Felicity gambled her life. Hoping, _praying _this led out to another path she could use to get away from the men and give her an advantage.

Stopping in her tracks, she remembered the Sensei and everyone in that dojo. If she didn't, at least, leave a track of which way she went then they would kill those who helped her. Rolling her eyes, Felicity kicked out at the sides of the cave which caused a few rocks to fall, making it look clearly out of place.

Following the cave along, she eventually saw an exit up ahead.

Bursting through the water, Felicity dragged as much oxygen down as her body would allow her in a single deep breath. Looking down, she was satisfied to see that there were no shadows. They hadn't followed her all the way through yet, but it wouldn't take long for them to find another way round to her.

Swimming over to the nearest wall, she hauled her body out of the water and proceeded to search for another path to take. Mountains were _everywhere_.

"Bloody mountains" Felicity grumbled under her breath as she set off towards one of the several million surrounding her.

Looking up to the steep cliff face of the chosen mountain, she took the time to allow for previous encounters to catch up with her.

Where was she going?

That was the question that had been stuck in her mind ever since she took off in the opposite direction of the other girls, also leading the group of men that way too.

Placing her feet in groves on the wall of the mountain, Felicity began to free climb up the wall.

_Please let nothing bad _happen, her mind desperately pleaded to a God that she didn't even believe in.

* * *

"Why didn't she just stay there?" it was either Laurel was a complete idiot or she was just playing dumb.

Roy hated that she was on the team; all she did was cause pain and trouble. He had lost track of the amount of times that he had to save her ass in missions.

At least Felicity could hold her own when necessary, Laurel was _nothing _like her in any way, shape or form.

Over the years Felicity had become like a sister to him, a sister that he never had. Whenever he was in the dark about something he would always count on Felicity to cause a smile to creep onto his face. Through his life Roy hadn't had a lot of people as role models when growing up so he had to become self-dependent at a young age and what he loved most about Felicity was the fact that she didn't judge him or despise the choices he made, she sided with him through everything.

Whether she knew she was doing or not, he would up smiling like some sap because of her.

But he couldn't the same with Laurel. She was different but not a good different.

"Because if you haven't noticed what she was saying Laurel, they'd come for all the people there and Felicity can never do that…good to see she hasn't changed" Digg was proud of her, over the years he had trained her for all sorts of situations where she's forced to be separated from the team, so she could take care of herself and he was proud to see that his training had been remembered, seeing it being put to good use made him just want to hug their girl tightly.

She was truly the light of the team.

Glancing over at Sara, it showed that she was feeling the same.

Felicity and Sara had bonded over some afternoons and late nights and training sessions together. They had become close friends. It was funny how everyone in the team was broken in some way but they all had been 'Smoaked' as he and Sara called it. In their team was; a lost hero, a wounded soldier, an assassin, a used-to-be-injected-with-mirakuru kid also Det. Lance, even though he wasn't officially apart of the team but they had all fallen for the I.T girl in different ways. Even Nyssa, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, had been 'Smoaked' and now everyone in that dojo had fallen under the influence of their impossible-not-to-love girl.

They had all been assessing the direction Felicity had chosen, seeing where in the world she actually was and the off-putting part that punched them straight in the face was _that they had no clue_.

"I hate that all we're doing is just standing here, watching this and doing absolutely _nothing_" Oliver had taken up pacing, agitation coming off him in waves.

"Hey man, stop…I think it's pretty safe to say that we're all curious as to what happened to her, so for now just cool it and watch the screen…besides we're learning things, not only, about Felicity that we can use to help her but also learning about the people along the way-" Digg turned his head back to the screen once again "-we are the ones who taught her about survival and if you ask me, she's doing one hell of a job surviving"

"He's right Ollie all we have to do is focus on what's happening next…she knows we're here for her every step of the way, she'll be fine…besides, it's obvious that she can take care of herself pretty well…just trust her to know what to do next" Sara finally got him to stop pacing, coming to stand in between her and Digg, Oliver once again turned his attention to the screen where Felicity was free climbing up the side of a mountain. _Gee that sounds like a brilliant idea_, Oliver's thoughts seem to all picture the worst possible thing happening.

Making sure she was in a stable position, she took a glance downwards to see how far she had come up. It looked to be almost equal distances both to the top and to the ground.

"If Oliver could see me now…always saying how much I hate rock climbing and what am I doing right now" she joked, no matter what the situation Felicity could pretty much make anything seem funny or less awkward.

Nearing the top of the mountain, Felicity became extra wary of where she was putting her feet. When she went to put her left foot on the next rock, it gave way and tumbled down where she had just come from.

"Shit!" she cursed as she lost all contact to the wall, so she was left hanging on only by her right hand. "Typical, just bloody typical"

Peering down, through the fog she could just make out the silhouette of a person. Dammit! Trying to gain her footing again, it resulted in the rock she was currently clinging onto also giving way. Managing to grab the next rock down, Felicity decided to go big or go home.

Reaching up, she joined her right hand with her left and heaved her body up onto the edge of the cliff. Swinging her lower body from side to side to build up momentum, Felicity launched herself up and into a roll, rolling onto the top of the cliff.

"And this is exactly why I hate rock climbing" she muttered under her breath before getting to her feet and taking a look around.

She didn't recognise anything at all, great.

Now what?

* * *

It was safe to say that everyone was in a seeming-trance, watching Felicity's memories.

"Shit!" Oliver heard her curse, losing contact with the rock wall. His body immediately tensed up at the sight in front of him. Felicity was just hanging on by one hand, looking down the way she had come.

"Typical, just bloody typical" _Really…_she's barely hanging on and she's taking the micky out of her situation.

Looking down, they saw her squinting into the fog. A man. They were catching up to her already.

Oliver was pretty sure that he had stopped breathing when the rock, she was currently clinging onto, gave way and forced her back down further. But that didn't seem to stop her.

He let out a deep exhale when she was atop the cliff she had almost fallen off of, safe.

"And this is exactly why I hate rock climbing" that got a chuckle out of him and the rest of the group before everything turned serious once again.

Now she was faced with a bigger problem.

Where the hell was she?

**Hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I think I got lost nearing the end but in the next few chapters it's clear what's happening so don't worry about that, but anyways hope you enjoy and reviews are greatly appreciated.**

She wasn't sure what had happened next. She remembered finding a cabin at the top of one of the mountains and her breaking open the lock on a drawer, a phone hidden inside.

She remembered it saying that she wasn't far from Starling City, actually bordering the outskirts of the city and upon exiting the cabin she had found a path winding down the safe side of the mountain.

She remembered how she had hitched a ride from a truck driver, who was thankfully married so no annoying flirty comments there, and had gladly given her a ride to the outside of the city, where it was less busy and more quiet then smack bang in the centre where the rest of her friends were.

Then everything just seemed to freeze. One second they're just driving along and the next they're part of a huge collision on the freeway into the city. The last thing registering was the feeling of her body being thrown forward like a rag doll.

Opening her eyes, everything around her is crumpled up, broken, completely trashed. The world became dizzy and blurry, reaching up she felt a sticky substance on her forehead, and when she pulled back she saw it was her blood. Picking up a shard of broken glass from the window, she saw the deep gash on her forehead which began to slowly heal itself. She felt weird but she couldn't put her finger on it though, so she focused on getting herself out of her current situation instead.

Scanning her situation, the truck had ended up on its side with all the windows broken, remaining glass threatening to stab whoever is unfortunate enough to come near it. Looking over at the man in the driver's seat, Felicity saw that he had sustained a nasty leg wound and was currently unconscious with his head resting against the ground.

It looked as if her side was the side that was mainly targeted in the collision; she had taken the brunt of the damage. Leaning over to inspect the driver's position, it seemed that his leg was caught beneath the steering wheel.

"Hey! Hey, wake up!" gently patting his right cheek in an attempt to wake him but it was no use.

"Urgh…great"

Carefully climbing out the now-broken windscreen, she ripped off the obstacle that was trapping his leg so she had full access to pull him out and to safety.

Bringing him over to the side of the road, Felicity laid him face down on the grass with his jacket pillowed beneath his head. Taking a seat beside him, she scanned over the site of the crash. The long line of collided vehicles trailed on from behind the truck.

Moaning coming from the man next to her made her open her eyes.

"Urgh, what happened and why is my leg wrapped up?" during his unconscious state, Felicity had checked his leg over and splinted it with the materials she had access to. He would need to go to the hospital but it didn't look too bad.

"You've broken it...sometime during the crash"

"Crash" he repeated, confused so she just gestured towards the pile up of cars. "You saved me?"

"Don't worry yourself over it any sane person would've done it" cutting out the part where she had practically ripped the steering wheel right out of the truck to get to him, she decided to just leave it there. "Here…you might want to call your wife and let her know you're alive" she handed him a phone that had been in the glove box and she had managed to save, it didn't receive much damage luckily.

"Thank you" he dialled in his wife's number and on the third ring, she picked up "Hey honey…no calm down, I'm alright…yes I'm sure…I gave a woman a ride and she ended up saving me when I was out, also she splinted my leg…hey don't worry, she's taken care of me…we're just waiting for the ambulance so I'll see you soon, I love you…tell the kids I'll see them soon too" he made kissy noises into the phone, to her dismay she _hated _when people did that. Don't they know the rule of PDA on the phone _it's not allowed._

"Speaking of which, here's the ambulance" Felicity stated, standing up and waving over to the medics.

"Are you two alright?"

"He's broken his leg but I managed to scrape together enough to splint it for the time being…I'm fine though, I don't think I need a trip to the hospital just take care of him right now"

"Are you sure? So you got out of all this unhurt?"

"No, I got knocked unconsciousness and must've collided with something but it's just a bruise, it'll heal with rest"

"Alright" one of the medics ordered a team to go searching for others that had been included in the accident.

"I never got your name" the driver called her attention back to him again.

"Felicity…and?" gesturing to him.

"David…thank you Felicity for saving my life, I don't know how to thank you"

"If you haven't noticed you already have, more than once too…look we both did each other a favour, you gave me a ride and I splinted your leg…we're even"

"Sounds fair"

"It's been nice meeting you, take care"

"Same to you"

* * *

Everyone was staring at the screen in awe of what they've just witnessed.

"So that's how she lost her memory" Digg mumbled to himself.

"What do you mean?" Sara asked in curiosity.

"The brain is a very complex thing with thousands of networks running information to each body part so if anything interrupts or messes with that network, it can upset the brain and cause different things to happen, ultimately causing loss of certain memories, this accident must have caused Felicity to lose everything that she has remembered previously…that is what Digg meant" Aiden clarified.

"But she's not aware of the fact is she?" Oliver chipped in.

"No she is not I'm afraid"

"So now that she has seen those forgotten memories, is there a chance that they will begin to register again?" Sara joined into the conversation.

"There is a good chance of that happening but for now, we will just have to watch to see if anything else might have another interference in the process of her recollection of memory"

* * *

As Felicity walked away from the crash site and into Starling, she tried to keep her head down as much as possible but _something _just told her that something was off, felt different but she didn't know _what _it was. Just then she heard the distinct noise of a bow and arrow but not just any bow, the one she had custom made for a certain green-hooded man. No it couldn't be him. But just to make sure though she followed the noise, including the fact that she now possessed super hearing.

Tracking the sound to an old building that was clearly abandoned, _seriously another one_, and smothered a gasp last minute when she saw four of her old team mates strung up to the ceiling obviously knocked out.

"What the hell?"

"This'll teach you four to mess with the Masters of Disguise again" another voice joined the party.

She took a quick analysis of the place. To her left was a large pile up of crates full of god knows what, she could use that as a cover. Dropping from the high platform she was crouching on to just behind the boxes, Felicity knew she had to come up with a way to get the douche away from her old team.

"Hey! Boss wants to see you!" to her advantage, another man guided him from the room, leaving it completely empty. Besides if anyone came in she would know about it.

Making sure to keep her footsteps light, she checked for cameras before sprinting over to where her friends hung. Glancing up at the chains securing them to the ceiling, Felicity's gaze followed the chain along to where the machine holding them up stood. It was in the shape of a computer, now's where the fun began.

Assessing the buttons on the motherboard, she already knew this make and you couldn't access anything without the key, which she guessed the boss probably had. Brilliant!

An idea hit her hard, moving to the back of the machine she saw all the network of wires trailed out. Honestly, she didn't want to touch any of them in case one of them let off an alert to the other men in with the 'boss'.

Gathering up all of wires in her right hand and wrapped them about her wrist while she placed her left hand on the table top holding the machine up from the floor. Counting down from three in her head Felicity yanked out all the wires at the same time. Waiting for a second in case of any alerts, she saw the chain release and dropped the team members to the floor. She winced at the sound.

"My bad, okay _maybe that wasn't the best idea I've ever had_…oh well they'll be fine, _hopefully_"

Moving over to where their bodies laid on the floor, she saw how the handcuffs still cuffed them all together. She could work with this. In her peripheral vision she could see a blanket, they probably used it for covering up the monitor.

Placing the covering underneath them all, she began to drag them all out of the building and out the back. Someone groaning broke her attention back to her old team, they were beginning to wake up. Speeding up slightly, she saw Oliver slowly begin to gain consciousness but never made a move to open his eyes. Looking behind her, she saw a shed-like building behind her. In a flash she was scaling the smaller building before Oliver even had his eyes properly open. As soon as he saw where he was, he began looking around the place, searching for _something_ and she had a feeling it might be the reason how they had made it out.

Hiding herself further in the shadows when his gaze fell upon her direction, he looked to be squinting maybe he saw her.

* * *

Later on in the day she had found an old warehouse underground and decided to build it up herself to something that she could call her home. Finding a bunch of old computers, she had spent ages building it up until she had ultimately built Aiden from nothing.

"So that's how we got out of there" Roy wondered out loud.

"She was right in front of me the entire time?" Oliver's face looked like he'd just been slapped.

"Well isn't this just so much fun to watch" sarcasm was the only thing that came out of Laurel's mouth and it made Oliver snap inside and before he could do anything to stop it he turned to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ollie?"

"Ever since day one she's been fighting for not only her life but for the lives of the women that were in the same horrid place as she was! She's been putting her own life on the line for those _she didn't even know _non-stop, she's been tortured and we've had to witness her trying to cut off her own screams which are full of nothing but agony! Since you've shown up here you have done nothing but abuse her as well, you're just as bad as those bastards following her every step trying to turn her into some sort of weapon and you know the worst thing?! SHE'S NOT EVEN SURE IF SHE'S GOING TO HAVE A FUTURE!" his breaths were coming out in short bursts and judging by the tears streaming down Laurel's face, he's really hit the soft spot with such a force that it's knocked any words clean out of her mouth.

"I didn't know" she whispered.

"You didn't care"

"Oliver enough!" Sara cut in "None of this is helping anyone!"

He knew Sara was right but nothing could calm the raging sea thrashing inside him.

"Ollie?" Laurel tried again.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT! OLLIE IS DEAD AND _HE'S NEVER COMING BACK_!" the waves lashed out like whips cracking, pulling him further and further out to sea, further into the heart of the storm.

"I-I don't understand" Laurel's voice reduced in sound until it was barely a whisper.

"All these years you've been calling me the name of the playboy who died in that shipwreck and never came back…you've been too caught up in the past to see that everything has changed, including me…ever since I've come back you have been judging me for decisions that _he _made and not seeing me for who I truly am, you saw me for the scars but didn't see what any of them meant"

"That's because you never let anyone ever see them!"

"WHY DO YOU THINK THAT WAS?! Do you honestly think it was _easy _for me to go through what I did, to know that I'm the cause of so many deaths of people I hardly even knew? Do you have _any idea _what it's like to go through something like that and spend every second of it wishing that you were dead?"

The sound of something crashing onto the ground brought everyone's attention back to where Felicity laid hunched over on the floor, looking like she didn't have a single bone in her body to hold her up.

"They're all dead aren't they?" a voice came out so broken and lost and when she picked her head up from where it was currently bowed close to her chest, her eyes seemed so distant and empty. It hurt just seeing her like that.

When nobody answered, she got her answer.

Picking herself up off the floor, Felicity whipped the tears from her face and strode over and up the stairs.

In all the years they had worked beside her, nobody had ever seen her as shattered as then. Maybe remembering what happened was too much for her to cope with all at once.


	12. Chapter 12

**So here's the next chapter in the story. Got to admit nearing the end, I think I may have rushed it slightly but anyways I still wanted to update since my brain is beginning to roll along with this story so yeah. Anyways as a lot of you have requested there is a little action between Olicity here but I got to tell you guys, I'm really not comfortable with describing what they're doing to each other so well let your minds take you on an adventure so anyways I still hope you enjoy reading this and the next chapter has something interesting in store. I'm not spoiling anything though, in case any of you try and get me to. As always please review and tell me what you think and if there's anything you might want to see in future chapters let me know. **

Booting it up the stairs and out of the house above her lair, Felicity left for one of her favourite jogging trails.

"Felicity!" she heard a voice came from behind her and she instantly recognised it to be Digg. "Wait up!"

Slowing her pace down, giving him the time to catch her up but something she hadn't expected was to hear the sound of more than one pair of feet jogging to catch her up.

Sara and Roy had followed her as well as Digg.

"We decided to leave Oliver and Laurel to their own devices and keep you company instead"

"Thanks guys, I appreciate the consideration"

"No probs" course, leave Roy to liven up the mood.

"So are we going jogging or not?" Sara bounced on her toes.

It was then she finally noticed they were all in their gym kits; smiling Felicity led them along her favourite trail. One of the advantages of going jogging with these three was the fact that they all had quite good stamina so it meant they could keep up with her, _even though she reduced her pace just for them- not that they noticed that._

The jogging trail suddenly turned slightly bumpy and soon added in an option of parkour from wall to walls.

* * *

When they finally got back they all, apart from Felicity of course, were all out of breath and breathing heavily.

"Let me get this right, you _willingly _do that every morning when you can find the time or need something to release frustration?"

"Yep pretty much that"

"I think I need a lay down, I don't know about you guys"

"I'm with you there kid, how about you Sara?"

"I third that"

On their way in, the house was quiet but Felicity could hear the noise of the TV playing.

"Looks like they've stopped fighting" Sara stated as the four of them wandered into the house.

"Liz have I told you how much I hate you lately…especially for leaving me to listen to those two arguing _on and on and on_?" Aiden's not-in-any-way-in-hell chipper voice met them.

"Every noun and then" she responded with a smirk.

"I'm heading up to take a shower"

"I'll use the one downstairs"

"I think I might have one too, I stink"

As Roy, Digg and Sara departed their separate ways, Felicity headed into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water she always liked to keep cool in the fridge.

Walking into the living room, that's when she saw them. Because her living room was connected to her kitchen with no doors to separate the two, just a bar, she had full view to pear into the kitchen.

Both Oliver and Laurel were lip locked over by the kitchen. Her arms were perched upon his chest while his were on her waist.

Normally this sort of thing, the painful memory of Russia coming to mind, would've been like a knife to the chest, but there was nothing out of her spiralling thoughts with a shake of her head, Felicity moved to the fridge and plucked a bottle of water from the shelves on the inside of the door before closing it with a click.

The sudden noise must've spooked them because the next thing she knew Oliver was moving away from Laurel with a look of surprise, fear and…confusion?

"What are you doing in here?" that almost got her gears turning.

"Laurel this is my house, I can go wherever I please and if you don't like that then go" she didn't seem to be pleased with her answer. Aw, too bad.

"Felicity this isn't what it looks like, I swear!" Oliver took careful steps towards her.

"Oliver I honestly don't care what is it…it's your life, not mine" turning to leave, Laurel suddenly chimed in.

"Are you jealous?"

"Laurel shut up before I bitch slap you across the face…I….don't…care" Oliver didn't stop following her until they were both in her, _or their_, bedroom.

"Felicity, please believe me…there's nothing going on between me and Laurel"

"Oliver…honestly I don't care who you're in a relationship with…as long as you're happy, you could be sleeping with my mother and I wouldn't care" he seemed to be searching her face, looking for _something_.

Sheesh, he was having a hard time accepting that from her.

"What do you want me to do? Act like I just had my heart broken? Well I'm not because I don't…I told you I didn't want a relationship so, Oliver do what you want…as long as you don't end up regretting anything you'll be fine"

Turning to the wardrobe, she stripped her tank top over her head and replaced it with a clean shirt.

When she tried to leave the room, Oliver beat her to the door and locked it, clasping his hand in a tight fist around the key.

"Oliver…"

"No! I don't believe that…Felicity I told you that I want to be with you"

"And I told you that I can't...look take this as _a friend _giving another _friend _advice, what just happened with Laurel you should just go with it, you have a chance at a normal relationship with the woman you loved right from the beginning" she gestured to the door, hoping that Oliver wouldn't take it the wrong way.

He moved closer to her and cradled her face.

"The woman I've loved from the beginning is _you_, nobody else…I want you and only you…_you are it for me Felicity_"

"You know that can't happen…what happens if the same thing that happened to the other man that was injected happens to me and I just suddenly disappear and am never able to come back? I can't be in a relationship with you when I stand a risk of not even surviving through the week, I can't hurt you like that"

"Felicity please don't do this to me…I know you feel the same way that I do, so prove it. The only way you can possibly hurt me is not being with me at all" by now she had moved out of his reach and was trying to avoid his gaze but was failing.

Looking into his eyes, she saw that raw fear behind his features that he had spent so long keeping it under lock and key, deep inside of him. "Felicity" the way he said her name, using that soft tone he saved for only her, began to break down her walls one by one. But she couldn't relent; she couldn't hurt him like that.

"I'm sorry Oliver, _but I can't_" she again moved further out of his reach, bringing up the walls around her again.

"Felicity there is no way _in hell_ that I'm letting you go without a fight. For those two years you were gone, I've had to live in darkness because without having you there wherever I went, whether it was on the comms or just sitting behind that desk in the Foundry, it was like living torture. Something I realised was that you were the only person that kept me going, made me hold onto my sanity and not turn into that monster I had once been. Everything that we had built, you, me and Digg was haunting me every single day. There were days where I couldn't take it anymore and went out looking for fights and time after time when I came back, you weren't there to patch me up, to be completely pissed at me for my actions, you weren't there to comfort me, to guide me back to that place _only you _can bring me to. It was like living my deepest, darkest nightmare but I couldn't escape it no matter how hard I tried"

"Hey I will always be here, I just can't be in the way that you want me to…that is something that I just can't do to neither you nor me, it would just hurt too much"

"Bullshit"

"Oliver"

"No, do you know what it's like to be going through a dark tunnel and after spending ages in the dark to finally see that light you've been searching so long for and for it to be there within your reach but then suddenly get blocked off? Well that is exactly what you're doing to me right now"

"That's not fair"

"Isn't it?"

"What about all the times that you've blocked me off in the past to protect me? All the times where I've laid out my heart for you, only to have it crushed…I know from experience that if I agree to this and for me to be stolen away at any time, that it'll crush you and it'll be like you placed back into those two years again…Oliver don't get me wrong I love you but I _can't _be that for you…I'm your partner and that's all I can be" she could see tears brimming in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall.

"Then we'll just have to make the most of the possible time we have" sighing, she knew he wasn't going to let this one go. When he saw something worth fighting for, he focused _everything _on that.

"And what if I don't even last through the night, what then?" Felicity could feel her walls cracking. A part of her knew her feelings for him like the back of her hand

"Then we better not waste a single second arguing when we can be together in peace"

"As long as we live in _this_ world, we'll never be in peace"

"When you are with me, I don't care if all we have is each other because you're all I need to get me through all those tough times up ahead" he came right up to her and cradled her face, Felicity couldn't help but allow herself to slightly lean into his touch. "I love you Felicity" Oliver whispered, bringing his forehead to rest against hers.

The key had gone from Oliver's hand to somewhere on the floor but he didn't seem to notice because his attention was focused mainly on her.

Was this it? Was this the thing that she had been dreaming for? She knew he was right thought, if they did only have a short time together then why waste a single second wondering what could've happened between them? Sometimes in life, there has to be somebody to finally take that leap of faith and see where it goes from there.

Pulling her head away from his for a second to look into his eyes, Felicity placed her hand at the back of his head and pulled him in close to her, claiming his lips in a passionate kiss. It didn't take Oliver long to respond, hauling her as close as he could to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Felicity pushed her chest up against his and bit down, Oliver responded in a growl radiating from his throat. Banding one hand round her waist, his other hand dove into her mass of blonde hair, locking his lips to hers.

If she actually thought that it would only stay strictly PG, god someone should just shoot her now.

Running his hands down the back of her body, he pulled her up to his chest and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist.

Backing the pair into the wall, Oliver took both her hands in his and raised them above her head as he pushed further into her. He was devouring her mouth, not leaving any part unexplored. Smiling against his mouth, she tightened her grip around his waist, bringing her more against his arousal.

"You are so _mine_" he snarled playfully before moving them both over to the bed.

Crawling up to the pillows with Felicity still clung onto his chest; Oliver positioned himself over Felicity before beginning the task of disposing themselves of their clothes.

They had finally taken the last step.

* * *

Meanwhile downstairs Digg, Sara and Roy were sitting on the couch watching TV when they heard the soft heard of knocking coming from upstairs, _to be exact, from Felicity's bedroom that she now shared with Oliver_.

"Well mum and dad are finally at it…is this what it's going to be like for the next god knows how long?" Roy whined.

"Get used to it kid" Digg smirked.

* * *

Felicity and Oliver laid there; they had certainly worked up a sweat. She might have this serum pumping inside of her but she had never experienced something so magical than the fact of her and Oliver being one with each other. The way they had been in perfect sync with each other's movements and the way he hadn't treated her like some kind of fragile glass, instead treating her like someone in need of punishment and he did, _several times in fact_.

The fact that she had made him work harder than he usually did to get any sign of a reaction out of her. So of course with him being Oliver, he had taken up that as a challenge and you know how he gets about challenges. He loves beating them, proving himself.

From how many times she made him come, it's not like she had lost count or anything, it had been easier on her part than it was on his, not that he actually seemed to care though.

Naturally, he had kept her there for longer than necessary. Apparently he loved cuddling up to her stripped body.

He was content with the world as he shifted closer, the remarkable woman he held in his arms, to him not ready at all to let her go and could you blame him for what they had just done?

All he felt was warmth, from both Felicity and also his own body. Only she could get him to show such warmth with any situation. It was now the middle of the day, just after mid-day and honestly, _he didn't really feel like getting up_.

"Um…I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Aiden broke him out of his sweet paradise lying beside Felicity, who was half sprawled out across his chest.

"Mm…nope, we were _just getting up_" she emphasised, sending him a message but he only smirked before pulling her back down, straight to his lips and rolled back up onto her and diving into another wild kiss.

"You do realise I wasn't being polite…I want you both downstairs in the lair, pronto"

"Sir Yes Sir!" Felicity mimicked while rolling so she was atop him but moved to unravel herself from Oliver's limbs, which he didn't like one bit.

"Don't think we're done here" he growled when he saw her exquisite stark-naked form moving over to collect her clothes that were now scattered all across the room.

"Not by a long shot, I still want to beat my record of making you come" she teased before hopping out of the room but not before shooting him a devilish look, almost bursting out loud when she saw his shocked face suddenly turn determined. _Oh she was in for it now_.

* * *

"So what do you want?" Felicity said, announcing both her and Oliver's arrival downstairs in the basement. Digg, Roy, Sara and Laurel were already waiting for them.

"Take a look at who I've found" turning her attention to the giant screen, Aiden pulled up images of a man she remembered had been taking turns around the cells, glancing over all of the women. "Take a wild guess at who has an office with _very important _information on his computers"

"Well looks like somebody's going to be receiving a visit quite soon" turning on her heel, Felicity headed over to the glass case, located in the nearby wall, to put on her catsuit. Meanwhile Oliver, Sara and Roy did the same thing while Digg headed over to the weapons cabinet to pick out his favourite guns, Laurel just standing there before going over to grab a gun also.

"Hold up…Laurel what are you doing?" Oliver had popped his mask over his head when he saw Laurel heading over to the weapon cabinet.

"Getting a weapon, oh come on you didn't think I would just stay here and listen over the comms did you? You've taught me how to defend myself and I'm capable enough of holding my own in a fight, if it comes to that"

"No"

"I'm coming anyways, I'm not letting you lot leave me behind"

Just then Felicity came out fully equipped in her costume with her weapon twirling around in her hands and everyone was silent.

"Why's everyone gone quiet? Hey I'm not fighting anything, it's her life"

"See she understands" Laurel gestures to her with her hands.

"So if she wants to get her ass kicked by whoever, it's her decision" Felicity threw out before making her way out the door, completely aware of the snickers coming from Roy and the glare from Laurel.

"Fine but don't engage _anyone_ do you hear me?" Oliver growled out, not anywhere near playful this time.

"Wasn't planning on it"

* * *

Following Felicity out of the lair and onto the small group of motorbikes she kept in the garage, all ready for use. Swinging her leg over the saddle, she straddled the bike that made Oliver's mouth go dry. Mounting the bike beside hers, he didn't notice her leaning over to him until he saw her hand come into his line of sight.

"Forgetting something?" she mused, pulling the mask down over his eyes and shifting it into place. He felt a spark of electricity shoot through him at how right that motion felt.

Laurel slid into place behind her sister, securing herself to Sara's back before they all shot off towards the location.

* * *

Getting to their destination, they all decided to stay low key for the mission since they didn't know how many men were inside that building.

"Laurel stay at the back and stay with someone at all time, do I make myself clear?" Oliver turned to face Laurel, who was standing beside her sister but he could tell she was nervous from the way her shoulders were kind of slouched and her body was tensed up but she nodded anyways.

"We can use the back door" Felicity supplied, talking over the comms with Aiden.

Sneaking in the slipped past the guards at the back of the building before they split up, deciding to look in separate directions. Roy and Digg went one way, Sara and Laurel went another while Oliver accompanied Felicity in the last direction. Conveniently there were three different directions they could choose from, so they chose them all.

* * *

It was going fine before Laurel had been separated from Sara and couldn't hear anything apart from the sound of her heart pounding in her chest. What now?

"Lookie lookie what we have here…are you lost?" a voice came from behind her. Preparing herself for a fight, Laurel lunged for the man with an attack but when she landed it, she almost broke her hand in the process.

"Nice try sweetheart but you can't hurt me; I've got mirakuru running through me" he stalked towards her like a predator playing with its prey. Sheathing a sword, it showed him to be a ninja just from his actions with the sword and the black clothes he wore.

"Hey dick" someone called out from behind him and when he spun around to the voice, he saw a fist landing a blow to his chest and his body shot through the air. Laurel looked behind her to see Felicity's hand clenched into a fist.

"I hate ninjas"

"Come on, we need to get out of here…Digg and Roy have found the information" grabbing Laurel's wrist, Felicity tugged her behind her.

Running through the corridors, Laurel saw a majority of the guards lying face-down on the floor, motionless.

"Don't worry they're not dead, just unconscious" Felicity threw over her shoulder.

"Felicity! Laurel! Where the hell have you two been?" Oliver shouted when they made it outside of the back of the building.

"Mirakuru...ninja" Laurel gasped out she was still out of breath from all the running.

"What!" well that certainly got everyone's attention.

"Don't worry Felicity took care of him, sent him flying through the air actually" they all looked at Felicity in shock, then remembered her new skills and abilities. Yeah it was definitely going to take them some getting used to.

"Whoa, remind me not to get on your bad side" Roy mused as they all prepared to head back to the lair.

"Forgetting someone? How comes I wasn't invited to the party?" another voice joined them.

They all spun around to face a man wearing black armour. Images flashed through Felicity's mind and as the man saw her, he froze. Instantly Oliver had placed himself beside Laurel and Felicity in case of any sudden actions.

"You? You're supposed to be dead, huh give me a minute I'll make a change to that" the man smirked, clicking the bones in his fingers and wandering closer to them.

At that point Felicity's instincts flew into overdrive because she knew exactly what was happening.

That man was like her.

"My thoughts exactly, now this is going to be fun" Felicity's eyes darkened immensely and the group witnessed a hulk change as the two locked combat.

Things just got interesting.


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow I can't believe how much you guys are liking reading this! Thank you!  
**

**So I know this chapter is shorter than the others but it's like the chapter that connects two chapters, like a filler chapter if you want to call it that but anyways I hope you enjoy it anyways. **

**The next chapter is sure to be including some interesting things will be happening, I'll give you that for the time being.**

**As always please review and tell me what you think, always open to suggestions!**

Breaking a metal pole right off the wall, he kneed it so it snapped in half like a twig and returned his attention back to her again as Felicity did the same she took the time to notice that his eyes weren't normal so that meant one thing, he had switched off his humanity so he was fighting without conscience, without care.

The both attacked without warning.

The sound of metal poles colliding with each other was the only thing to be heard. Not once did either of them stop to take a breather.

To Oliver it seemed too familiar, the way that man used those metal poles as his weapons. The method he drove them through the air and towards Felicity. He knew it all too well and that's what scared him.

The man quickened his pace until he slowly backed Felicity against the wall, ditching the poles he grabbed her by the throat and slowly raised her up against the wall.

"Well aren't you a feisty one? You know I actually thought you might've fought harder" he mused.

Digg, Roy and Sara had to hold Oliver back just so he wouldn't go and punch the living hell out of the man holding Felicity by her throat up against the wall, saying how it was _'her fight'_.

"Oh believe me…you haven't seen feisty" Felicity snarled while her pupils dilated into those of cats eyes before wrapping her legs round his arm and throwing herself forward, not stopping when the sound of his arm breaking sounded. The force alone flipped him over and made him face plant the ground hard, leaving him motionless, Felicity rolled up to her feet.

Seconds later he was back up on his feet again. Felicity threw punch after punch at him relentlessly, not letting him breathe and it was clear that it was wearing him out but when she went to throw another punch he caught her wrist and threw her at the wall. Swivelling around in mid-air so that she was facing it head-on, Felicity kicked off from the wall and landed a round-house in his face, knocking him clear out of consciousness.

"Liz can you bring him in so we can do a blood sample, see what we're working with" Aiden came through the comms.

Exhaling a breath she spat out blood before bending down to throw him over her shoulder and made her way to the bike.

"Put him on mine" Oliver said as the rest of the group came over. Turning her head to peer over her shoulder at him, she saw the seriousness on his face. Stepping off to the side, Oliver stepped up to the bike and carried him _not so pleasantly _over to his and draped his unconscious body just in front of the seat. Luckily the bikes were tall enough for him not to mess up anything with the journey.

* * *

On the way back, Felicity didn't once break her gaze from the road ahead of her, her mind too wound up to think about anything else. A part of her knew what she had to do but she wanted to be sure before she did anything towards it.

* * *

"Well you were right Liz, he's like you he's got the serum running through his veins but I can't tell how long though"

Without a word, Felicity began searching his body.

"What are you doing?" Digg asked from where he stood, along with the rest of the team, around the table where the man's body laid. Ignoring the question for the time being, she proceeded to search his arms and halted when she spotted what she had been looking for.

"This was where he was injected and by the colour of the skin around it, I'd say probably couple of months now but from the way some of the skin around it is dying, he hasn't got long left" Felicity noted, looking up at Digg.

"Where did you learn that?" Sara wondered.

"Observation and couple of experiments to confirm it"

"Why are they injecting themselves with it though? I don't understand that part"

"To find me" Felicity answered without emotion, causing heads to snap up and give a confused look "Think about it I'm currently the only one whose survived longest with the serum and they probably want to brain wash me and turn me into a weapon, what they originally intended for me to be…but there's something that won't stop bugging me" turning to the main screen she continued to ask "Aiden do you still have my memories from when I used the machine?"

"Yes but why?"

"I want to check something out" going over to one of the secondary monitors and scanned through the several images until she came up with the one she wanted, zooming in on a section before sliding it to the main screen.

"Aiden came you enhance the image so we can see that clearly?" when the black and orange skull logo was clear to see Felicity could hear everyone's response clearly.

"I should've known"

Walking over to one of the in-wall cabinets that housed rock-climbing gear, Felicity began gathering some gear together.

"Felicity what are you doing?" Roy wondered aloud.

"Where do you go when you're solving a problem?" Felicity replied in a question.

"Where it all started, why?" he solved but he was still confused.

Turning to the group Felicity clarified.

"I'm going back where it all begun to see if I missed something, let's see if tracing my steps has any positive effects"

At the words Oliver's eyes practically popped out of his head, stepping forward he started shaking his head no.

"You're not going back there again"

"Tough luck, I'm going back so if you don't like it get out my way, there's nothing you can do to stop me"

"Well then I'm going with you"

"So am I" and Digg makes three.

"Me too" Sara made four.

"Don't forget me" Roy made five.

"Well I'm not staying behind" and there's Laurel making six, _yay_.

"So much for a solo mission" was the only thing she said before they all made their ways out of her lair.

* * *

As Digg drove them out of Starling, following the same route as Felicity took when she returned; Felicity couldn't help but look out the window as the thought of having to go back through her escape route step-by-step to get back to the place everything started at and to be completely truthful with herself she wasn't exactly sure what to expect. It _was_ a little over two years she had taken this route when she escaped from the week of hell.

When Oliver, who sat beside her behind Digg, clutched her hand in his she knew that this time she wasn't alone in this, she didn't have to rely solemnly on herself and that fact alone made her insides clench at how much she had built during those three years she had worked alongside them.

She had built a family and she promised herself that when this was finished, she would go home.


	14. Chapter 14

**I love writing this story, every step of the way is always so awesome and you guys reviewing makes it all the better for me too so thank you for that. **

**Anyways before I begin to babble on like Felicity does, here is the fourteenth chapter. I can't believe this already has 14 chapters. I've got to admit though, it's beginning to near its end so hopefully it will turn out alright for Team Arrow.  
**

**As always please review and yadda, yadda, yadda...**

**Enjoy!**

Trekking up the mountainside was like a walk in the park for her since the serum provided her with stamina she didn't have before but it didn't seem to come so easily to people like Laurel, since she was seriously lagging behind.

Even from her position out in front, Felicity could still hear her panting like a dog meaning she was clearly out of shape, well the road up ahead was going to get infinitely more interesting.

She could see the cabin perched up on top of the mountain already from her place on the side of the mountain, if only she had gone alone on this she could probably be at the building where all her nightmares took place by nightfall or at least very close but no.

Fortunately for them it was still daybreak so they had the entire day to get as far as possible but including that they didn't have her abilities to push forward when they felt like collapsing and they all were lugging rucksacks with their own climbing equipment in, meant that this process was only going to take all the much longer.

Each person carried a rucksack on their backs with the necessary equipment needed for the trek from what they saw from Felicity's memories and they all knew they wouldn't be able to make it all the way in one go, they'd be forced to spend a couple nights in the mountains to get all the way there, so they had also brought tents and sleeping bags along with them and secured them to their rucksacks.

The path up to the cabin atop the mountain was longer than she had remembered it but maybe that was because of the fact that then she was mainly focused on getting herself home than anything else.

Felicity was ahead and leading the group down the path she had taken when she had escaped and she already knew it was going to become harder for her to cope with that fact when they neared the heart of the storm, so she was going to have to keep herself on a tight rein because they needed her to focus with this and by damn she wasn't going to be scared off by anything, _even if it is herself._

A good thing about running this beforehand was the fact that she knew the path like the back of her hand, even if she had found out about it just recently.

Approaching the first obstacle, Felicity remembered how she had been forced to free climb the cliff face without any equipment. She had to solemnly rely on her own abilities and how everything had almost gone wrong but not this time.

"So we're going to abseil down the side but all of us will be attached to a rope at all times in case someone slips and falls, the others can help them get back on the wall" Oliver stated to the team, who began to unpack their rocking climbing equipment.

Securing their harnesses onto their bodies and tying on the length of rope fastening them all together.

"Laurel you go first, the rest of us will follow...I'll go last"

Whenever it came to physical kind of events such as rock climbing or something, Oliver would always lay down the basic rules and give everyone clear instructions before anything happened, to make sure they were all safe.

* * *

By the time nightfall came, they had made it to the deep lake where Felicity had taken a leap of faith, plunging deep into its depths.

They had found a nearby cave to set up for the night. Unrolling their sleeping bags everyone settled down to go to sleep but no matter what position she tried, Felicity couldn't find the relief of sleep so instead exited the cave.

Looking at the back exit of lake she had jumped into, she didn't need to be a genius to know that her friends weren't going to be able to hold their breath for that length of time; she had to find another way around.

The sound of someone approaching her registered to her but it was him calling out her name that finally snapped her attention to the man behind her.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Just go back to sleep Oliver there's no point in me trying because I'm not going to be able to fall asleep" not once did she break her gaze from the place she'd used in her escape from those men. Her mind was whirring away trying to come up with another way to get around.

"Nope if you're staying out here then so am I…Felicity I know what you're going through but I promise you that you're not alone in any of this"

"It's not that" she answered quickly, sighing "It's just that you lot aren't like me, I can hold my breath a lot longer so when I swum through there I found no problem but you guys might not be able to say the same, it's a long way through to the other side…there's a possibility nobody may be able to even make it"

"Then we'll find another way around it…but that can be solved in the morning though…come to bed, please"

"Oliver you know there's not really much point in that"

"I know but it's always worth a shot in the dark though…besides, I always sleep better when you're next to me"

Felicity didn't respond to him because she was too caught up in hatching a plan to get through the next step of the journey. She could still sense Oliver behind her but she wasn't actually giving him any of her main attention and he knew this already.

Ever since they had slept together, the atmosphere between the two of them had changed considerably and truth be told, she wasn't sure if it was for the best or not.

The sole purpose of doing that with Oliver was because she wasn't stupid, she knew her feelings for that man all too well, since they'd been heightened from when she had been injected but the whole reason behind it was because of the fact that she wasn't sure how long she was going to be able to hold out for, so she was making the most out of the time she had left.

Sure maybe the whole thing was rushed but honestly she couldn't help it, she couldn't help not knowing that she could've been _that _with Oliver but she hadn't because she didn't want to mess up their friendship.

Everything was slowly beginning to collapse. The world that Felicity had put together for herself since the day she had woken with the serum coursing through her veins. She had to live for _two years _without a single memory of what was in her so she was basically living blind and it made her feel so vulnerable towards it. Everything that Felicity knew in her past life had to be buried deep inside of her she had to concentrate on the main goal, which was to survive through all the battles, but since that day she had saved Oliver and made that decision to bring him back to her lair along with the remaining members of the team, that world had changed. Parts she had kept buried rose to the surface, fought to make themselves known.

Bringing her trailing mind back to reality again, Felicity turned to face Oliver.

"What happens if I do die at the end of all this?" she couldn't help but ask him.

"Felicity, _please _don't go there…I've told you before that I can't lose you from my life, not again and not like this" he stepped up to her and brought her closer to him, sliding both arms around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck. But she wasn't anywhere near finished yet.

"Oliver you know there's not a good chance of me surviving this, I've been lucky to survive this long I can't keep pulling you or the rest of the team's lives and emotions into all this" pulling away from him because she needed to physically put distance between them for him to understand this properly "I'm toying with all of you and I can't keep doing it anymore"

"Felicity I _chose _you and I will_ never _regret that decision….you are my life, my world and without you I have nothing to fight for" Oliver reeled her back in to him and from how she wasn't putting up any resistance she needed the comfort he provided too "You haven't been _lucky _Felicity, up till now you've never stopped _fighting _for your life…you're one of the strongest people I know, actually no you're _the _most strongest person I've ever met. period and nothing can ever change my opinion of you…let's go to bed" he grasped her hand in his and began to led her back to the cave where the sleeping bags were all laid out, holding their sleeping team members.

Stealing another glance back at the area, she tried one last time at searching the rocks for another access point to the other side. Her last attempt was cut short when Oliver tugged her into his sleeping bag.

Since she had revealed her secret to him, Oliver hadn't been able to keep his hands off her it was as if he was allergic to not touching her. Not once had he been hesitant to lay his hands on her skin.

Settling herself down as much as she could, Felicity explored the thought of having to scale up the side of a mountain while attached to the rest of the team.

Why did she have a strange feeling something was going to go wrong?

* * *

The next morning as soon as they were all up and packed, ready to go they all set off to find the shortest way through the mountain and to the main section of the lake.

"There is no way I can hold my breath for that long" Laurel was panicking at the thought of drowning.

"You're not going to we're going to have to find another way around" Oliver supplied, searching for any way.

An average-sized opening in the side of the mountain got Felicity's attention. Ditching her rucksack she climbed up the side and investigated, Digg had seen where her gaze was directed at and had followed after her while everyone else searched for any other possible ways.

"You think we'll be able to get through here to the other side?" Digg questioned curiously as they both searched the cave.

As it cut out to the other side Felicity instantly recognised when she had plunged into the lake, which was located a couple of metres ahead of the exit point of the mini walk-through cave.

"Yeah this'll do"

Turning and heading back to the rest of their group, Felicity and Digg told them about the cave leading through to the other side while Felicity replaced her sack on her back.

"You've _got _to be _kidding me_, seriously?" Laurel complained.

"What?" Oliver growled "If you don't like rock climbing and abseiling then you shouldn't have come then, you signed yourself up for it when you saw Felicity's memories beforehand"

Felicity meanwhile was securing her harness to her body and fastening the length of rope to herself too. Looking around at the area, she remembered everything like it was yesterday.

Shaking herself out of it, she glanced up at the opposing mountain side that bore down on them. Looking around the group you didn't need to be a genius to know that everyone was hesitant towards scaling up the cliff.

Facing the giant rock, Felicity began to climb up.

Oliver trailed behind her as he was followed up by Digg, then by Roy, next up was Sara then finally Laurel hung behind the group.

As they all clambered up the side towards the top, the feeling that Felicity had that something was going to go wrong proved itself to be correct.

On the way up, they were nearing the top when Laurel misplaced her hand on the rock above her as it came crumbling down, bring Laurel in its wake. Her little mishap caused Sara to be strained then lose her footing, pulling Roy right off the wall leaving Digg to barely cling onto a section of the wall to keep them all up.

Hearing the cluster of curses and rocks being pulled from the mountain Felicity peered down to see what all the commotion was about. When she saw Digg hardly holding himself on the side before he too was pulled clean off to dangle along with everyone else, it caused quite a strain to be put onto both Oliver and he and it was clear to see that Oliver too was struggling.

Oliver was growling with the urge to hold on but the combined weight of the remaining members of the team was too much for him because he too lost his hold on the rocks, so that meant Felicity was left to be the only weight separating the team from falling to their deaths.

"Everyone try and find your footing on the side!" Oliver yelled down as he, himself tried to regain his hold on the cliff but was currently failing.

Felicity could feel the strain the weight had over her but she wasn't giving out on her team, her friends because she wouldn't be able to live with herself afterwards. Grounding her teeth together, she drifted to the part of her that the serum provided; relying on the strength and power it gave her and continued the climb up.

"Felicity what the hell do you think you're doing!" Oliver was outraged at her heroic display.

"Finishing what we started" she gritted out as she continued to haul everybody's weight up the remaining distance.

Clambering up the edge of the cliff, Felicity tugged on the rope to help everyone else up. When they were all up and safe it was only then that they finally relaxed.

Seeing the forest in all its glory they all the next step of their journey.


	15. Chapter 15

**Jesus Christ this was really hard to write because I kept crying. When I wrote this I was actually listening to Lisa Gerrard - (Man on Fire) I love the film and the soundtrack is amazing and tragic at the same time. ****  
**

**Anyways before I burst into another series of waterworks, here is the fifteenth chapter I believe. I hope you enjoy reading this and as always, please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. I love hearing what you guys have to say! XD**

**Thank you x**

Felicity's gaze was locked onto the forest where the next obstacle awaited them but this one made her knees go weak at the thought of not knowing whether or not those people who had helped her two years ago were dead or alive.

Ever so slightly, Felicity felt her walls slipping down around her.

"Felicity?" and in the blink of an eye the walls were up and stronger than before, she couldn't come through as weak. She wouldn't let herself be weak, especially not now.

"Let's just get this over with"

She walked on ahead, not really caring if the others were behind her but seconds later she could hear several footsteps and she knew they were directly behind her.

Walking through the forest, Felicity was met by thousands of memories of when she had ran for her life through the trees, it was like watching the entire thing on rewind but she couldn't cancel out of it.

* * *

Up ahead the dojo came into view and a series of shivers ran through her in that moment, she hoped nobody had noticed her flinch slightly but Oliver had never taken his eyes off her so saw her reaction and knew she was struggling but masking the pain.

Before they entered the house, Felicity's instincts screamed that something wasn't right here. Something was about to happen.

So naturally she held up her hand to stop the rest of the team in their movements before steadily sneaking towards the door. It was times like these where she trusted her instincts most of all and not once had they ever let her down.

The front door was ajar and that alone didn't create the best image in her mind. Then something hit her and she knew that nobody except her was entering that building.

"Stay here" Felicity whispered.

When she began towards the door she was stopped by Oliver.

"No, I'm coming with you" he replied in a hushed whisper but there was an edge to his voice, he didn't like the idea very much.

"I need to do this alone" was the only thing she said before slipping through the door.

The second she saw the room, she froze. From the sight alone, it was enough to make her gag, to scream out in rage.

Every single person was slaughtered.

Everyone that had helped her in her time of need was lying in a pool of their own blood. Judging from the way the blood was bone dry, it hadn't happened recently.

It was sickening seeing all the innocent people slaughtered for nothing more than revenge. But the worst part was the fact that they had all been cut down because of _her _and it was like a thousand knives to her gut at the knowledge of it.

Felicity knew then that Oliver was now standing behind her and from the atmosphere around him he wasn't processing the scene well. She couldn't break her gaze away from the bodies littering the room. A hand lay on her back but she couldn't feel it, the only thing she felt was her blood running cold through her body. _She _was the cause of this; _she _was the reason that everyone was dead. Not even realising it, the rest of the team had gathered in the room and if she wasn't so caught up in the scene, she would've heard the pained gasp coming from Laurel.

A sudden noise of rustling caught her attention and without even thinking about it, she moved in the direction of the sound with the team in hot pursuit. Turning the corner, she realised exactly where she was heading.

The room she had once called her own and lying on her bed clutching the blanket she had once used to keep the cold at bay, was Sensei.

Without a second thought she rushed to his side and gently turned his face so she could enter his line of sight. She could see his breathing increase before he tugged her close and it was then she realised what had happened.

"Why didn't you run? Why did you fight?"

"Protect your own"

"You could've been killed"

"None of us cared…we all died in the best way possible"

"You've been dosed" his gaze met hers and she saw how much pain it caused him.

"I died a while ago…I have been waiting for you to return and you have"

It was his words that made her eyes snap shut and drop her head.

"This is all my fault…I should have been here to defend all of you, I failed you all…I deserve whatever is coming for me"

"No" he lifted her head so she didn't have another choice but to look at him "You have failed nobody and you do not deserve what has been thrown at you, you survived…_never _be sorry for surviving"

"They could all be alive now"

"They died in honour of you, what you did for us and now it is time for me to join them…and I want you to end my suffering"

Oliver and the team looked on in pain as they saw their friend, their partner's such broken expression. There was nothing they could do though and they all knew that. This was something she had to do on her own.

"No! I will _not _be the one to bring the end upon you…I refuse to do it…why did you have to save me, why couldn't you have just left me there?" the only thing in that moment was pain and it was clear to see.

"I want you and only you to be the one to be with me until the end…and as for _that _how could I just leave you there with a fight that crushing you?"

"None of this was meant to happen"

"You couldn't have changed the path we all were to take, please know that" for the first time since they had entered the room, Sensei turned his attention to the rest of the group.

Reaching out towards Oliver, who automatically came to his side just beside Felicity and clutched his hand in his.

"Thank you for taking care of her…I know I haven't known her for as long as you but I believe her to be as my own daughter and I am glad that she has such good souls as all of yours watching her back in life…so thank you…please take care of her for me"

His words hit home for Oliver. This man had barely known him for two seconds and was already entrusting him with what seemed like his greatest treasure. He looked to him with a knowing look and Oliver could already tell that he had a good heart and great courage.

"I promise to guard her with my life" tears brimmed in his eyes at the man's dying wish. He felt privileged to have known such a man as him even if it was for a short amount of time.

As he nodded at Oliver he looked at the other members of the group.

"Take care of each other for you all are a family, protect one another with everything you have…you do not know what you can lose until it is too far gone to be brought back"

"Please don't do this" Felicity was finding it hard to keep hold of the walls she held in everyday life.

"You know I have to…it is my duty to remain by my family's side and because of you I can now rest in peace alongside them, looking down upon you to watch over you…Neshama, give me my honour back so I may join those lost to us" he brought her gaze back to his but still she refused to open her eyes, her walls were steadily crumbling to pieces but she knew she had to do it, _she _had to be the one to give him his life back.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for all the pain I have caused you"

"Neshama…you have set us all free and by returning to us, I can finally die in peace" pulling her to him, he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her close for as long as he could, Felicity buried her face in his neck, memorising his touch, his warmth, everything.

"It is time for me to go" when she made no move to leave his embrace, he pulled away from her and cradled her face within his hands "You will always be my daughter…ever since the time you were dosed you have proved yourself time and time again, you have fought for not only your life but those of others…never forget who you are in this world, do not let them win…fight for us…make me proud like I always have been" Felicity made no move to wipe away the tears trailing down her cheeks as she looked on to the only father she had ever truly known.

"You will always be my father"

"Always and forever…I wish for all to end here in this room with you and our family"

Upon feeling a weight being placed in her hands, Felicity looked down to see Sensei's blade being placed in her grasp.

The dagger was beautifully crafted and the metal glistened, presenting her with her reflection. When she had seen a broken soul he had seen someone looking for themselves and she would never forget what he had done for her, how he had saved her and taken her under his wing without so much as a word.

Looking up, Sensei reached out for the entire team, the family and they all gathered around the bed and around Sensei, looking on with such honour for him.

Glancing at Sensei then up at Oliver, he instantly knew what she was asking of him. Shifting themselves so that Sensei laid out, resting between both Felicity and Oliver. His hand on her arm got her focus off of the knife and into his eyes.

It was then she realised the Sensei had a hold on both hers and Oliver's hands and he had no intention of letting go.

She knew she was stalling for as long as she could, they both knew it had to be done. He didn't want to live a life like that, alone and without his family.

Cupping the back of his neck, Felicity looked into his eyes with such tenderness before holding her breath as she slid the dagger in and tore his heart. That look of acceptance was all too much for her to bear.

In his final dying moment he muttered something in Chinese that only Felicity would understand.

_"Take me home"_

Answering his request with a smile and a subtle nod, Sensei closed his eyes for the last time. His head rested in her lap and as his time finally concluded, he wore a smile to the end.

Not bothering to hold it back, Felicity lowered her head to his chest and released the barrier holding everything back. Her shoulders shook as sobs wracked her body. She felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders as she released everything, not holding anything back anymore. Her sobs began to lessen.

* * *

After a while kneeling there with his head in her lap, Felicity finally shifted. Rising, bringing him with her, she carried him out of the dojo to fulfil his final request. She was taking him home.

A memory she had left out was a tree that Sensei had brought her to on the second night of her stay and at first sight, she had fallen in love. It was magical. Lush green grass laid out on the ground like a blanket, as the water streamed down the mini river creating a melody lulling those to sleep. On the other side of the river, the giant old Oak tree hung over creating a protective barrier for those who lay beneath its leaves. This was memory that would stay with her until the end of time, nothing could beat that feeling of magic it had over those who entered into its realm of safety and comfort.

Crossing the river, she laid Sensei out before moving onto the task of forming a grave respectable for such an honourable man to lay forever in peace.

It hadn't taken Oliver long to come to help with the construction of the grave to remember a man he wished he had known longer.

* * *

Moonlight shone down on her as she kneeled in front of the graves of the people who had helped her on her journey and who she owed the greatest gratitude to but were now all gone, leaving her behind to pull together the pieces.

She had gone back to the dojo and carried every single person in the damn building to where she had buried Sensei. Too many graves lined up together, now lying in peace in the world where finally there was no more fighting, that could just be.

She couldn't help the rage that completely took her over, snapping a full grown tree in half and sending splinters in every direction. Dropping to her knees, right then she just wanted everything to end for her, for all the pain to stop but instead she thought of how Sensei would react on hearing those words bouncing around in her mind.

Staying strong was what he asked of her and how could she possibly deny him that now. She would get justice for them all, everyone who had been lost in the battle and she would win the war.

There was no way in hell she was allowing all those lives to be lost in vain.

* * *

That night sleep didn't come, instead images of Sensei played through her mind and the words he had spoken during his dying hour. How he had waited for her to return to him to finally end his suffering, he had waited two long years for her for them to truly part in a way they could not reunite from.

Her team slept through the night as Felicity stood guard, watching over them like a guardian. She had gone night after night without sleep before so she could do it again, especially that this time she had an advantage she didn't have before.

She couldn't stop thinking about that night she had escaped with the other girls in tow. What remained after the fire died down? Did anything survive?

In a couple hours she would have to come face to face with the place where everything started. She wasn't scared of the place, she was scared of the memories it housed, every feeling she had gone through, every thought that crossed her mind.

All the past events of the previous day rose to the surface. How she remembered that look of knowing and acceptance to grace his features as she applied the final blow. How he said that she had always been his daughter to him and that was never going to change. He was the only _real _father she had ever truly known so until her last breath, his name would remain as her father's.

Removing herself from her sleeping bag, Felicity wandered into the forest but not too far from the group.

She had a knowing feeling that things were only going to be worsening for them from this point on. Was it really worth it dragging down her entire group of friends in something they have nothing to do with? Was it fair on them to do such a thing? Every answer was no but nothing paused her mind from whirling around the fact that bit by bit, she was slowly falling and she didn't know if she was ever going to stop or if there was going to be anyone to catch her in the end.

Looking up at the darkened sky, she wondered why she had to be the one who got injected, the one whose life was slowly beginning to be torn apart.

But the main question that lingered around her, _was she going to be able to survive?_


	16. Chapter 16

**You know something that I've realised, I hate basically coping a scene over but changing and adding in a couple parts to someone else's POV. It's goddamn annoying but here it is. **

**I can't believe I've uploaded this many chapters already, it is truly awesome. In the beginning I never actually thought I'd be uploading this many chapters but the story gets more epic and intense as you go along. I have a feeling this is going to turn out to be awesome. **

**So as always - and yes I _will _be doing this for the rest of the chapters in this story - leave a review and tell me your thoughts. But try not to make me cry though, even if it is funny when I think back to it and dammit I'm rambling now. I promise I won't slip an innuendo into here though-_ A.K.A I'll try my best but I'm not promising sh*t XD_**

**Thank you and enjoy x**

When they were finally safe on top of the mountain, Oliver turned to yell at Felicity wanting to know what the hell she was thinking pulling off a stunt like that, not caring that she was much stronger than the rest of them but the words died in his throat when he spun to face her.

She looked like she was about to face a nightmare and in truth, she was but she wasn't alone in any of this and damn nothing was going to force him away from her side.

"Felicity?" his voice softened, trying to draw her attention to him for even a second.

By the way her expression once again becomes guarded, he knows this is going to be hard for her and he, more than anyone _well and Sara_, can understand what she'd going through.

"Let's just get this over with" and with that Felicity marched on, leaving everyone to rush to fall in step with her, Oliver trailing just behind her.

Strolling through the forest, Oliver watched as Felicity's gaze flew around through the trees like she was searching for something that wasn't even there.

* * *

Approaching the dojo, he couldn't seem to break his gaze from the remarkable woman in front of him even if he wanted to, so when she flinched he knew exactly what was running through her mind.

His instincts flared to life when she halted the team with her arm held out, stopping them from entering. Something wasn't right and she knew it and when he saw the door slightly ajar, that caused his muscles to coil up beneath his clothing, ready to strike if necessary, ready to defend his friends.

"Stay here" as soon as those words left her mouth and went to move into the building, his hand shot out to stop her.

"No, I'm coming with you"

He wasn't an idiot. He knew she could clearly take care of herself but it was like a sixth sense to keep her from any potential threats or anything that could cause her harm.

"I need to do this alone"

Those words made his blood boil beneath his skin; he _loathed _those words because no good ever came out of them, in any situation.

The next thing he knew, she was gone.

The only thing he could do was listen to the sound of her footsteps but when he heard them come to an instant stop just seconds after entering the dojo, something told him the scene that laid out inside wasn't nice.

Looking over at Digg, who nodded in confirmation, he was to enter next to see if it was safe while Digg watched everyone else.

Immediately he knew why she hadn't moved another muscle further into the building.

Death polluted the air and he knew from experience that this wasn't recent so they were safe for now but it still didn't help the fact that Felicity was frozen in place. Moving closer to her, Oliver gently laid his hand on her back hoping to provide any means of comfort to her but knew the idea was hopeless.

Behind him the remainder of the team cautiously entered and was too halted in their tracks. Laurel was the first one to make some sort of noise; a pained gasp didn't even draw his attention back to her. Not the fact that someone as innocent as Laurel was seeing this much death before her for the very first time, well not this bad since the Undertaking.

* * *

A rustling snapped Felicity out of her seeming trance and towards a room, with him and everyone else following behind her; he recognised to be her old bedroom. The second they all rushed into the room behind Felicity, he saw a man Felicity knew as 'Sensei' laying on her bed with his head dropped to the pillow in a position Oliver knew as defeat.

Sensei reminded him of Yai Fei and how much he had helped him on his own personal journey before he had too joined the group of those lost to Oliver but didn't mean he never stopped mourning the man.

How Felicity didn't even hesitate to rush to his side showed how close they were to one another, like family.

Sensei's breathing increased once he laid eyes upon the woman he had helped all those years ago.

The words exchanged began to slowly beat down on him.

"Why didn't you run? Why did you fight?" the guarded expressions Felicity had showed earlier on disappeared in a flash.

Not once did his eyes divert from the pair on the bed.

"You've been dosed" from how broken her voice became when the words were said, Oliver knew this was steadily killing her further.

The entire time Oliver watched in awe as someone that had only known Felicity for such a short period of time talk to her like he had known her for years. Looks like she had an effect on others ranging further than him.

Each sentence Felicity said caused his heart to twist painfully for her, the amount of pain, regret and guilt weighing down on her, casting her into a different darkness to his. It was evident that she blamed herself for everything that happened to every single person in this building because of her own actions, which in her own defence, she couldn't help but do to protect herself and it looked like he wasn't the only one who shared these views.

"They died in honour of you, what you did for us and now it is time for me to join them…and I want you to end my suffering" from her reaction alone, those words were like a bludgeon to the chest.

"You couldn't have changed the path we all were to take, please know that" after his words, he had taken into account the others in the room.

When Sensei had reached out towards him, Oliver found himself going straight over to take his hand without even giving the action a second thought.

"Thank you for taking care of her…I know I haven't known her for as long as you but I believe her to be as my own daughter and I am glad that she has such good souls as all of yours watching her back in life…so thank you…please take care of her for me"

His words struck a nerve in him with such force. He hardly even knew him yet trusted him with his most prized jewel. The man had such a strong and courageous soul and had just given Oliver his blessing to take care of Felicity and that instinct to protect her thundered through his veins like a raging sea, all the more.

Bowing his head honourable at the dying man to give him some sort of commendation for his nobleness, Oliver struggled to hold the tears at bay. He wasn't a man that cried easily but this was hitting to close to home.

He barely registered Sensei notifying his appreciation to the rest of the team and giving them final words of wisdom but the only thing that Oliver seemed to be able to focus on is the woman beside him, clearly battling such a war and the worst thing was that there was barely anything he could do to help her.

Looking at the dagger Sensei had gently placed in Felicity's grasp, he was fighting himself not to pick her up and take her out of here as quick as he could.

When her gaze locked with his own, she asked a silent question in which he instantly answered, shifting their two bodies carefully under the body of the passing man to give him as much comfort as they possibly could.

He had spent a short time learning the Chinese language during the Bravata life of his own, so when Sensei had muttered to Felicity in Chinese he knew what he had said.

_Take me home_.

Answering his dying wish with a nod of her head, Felicity allowed him to pass on in peace. To give him the satisfaction that he won the fight.

To die in the arms of somebody that cared for you and that you were safe, Oliver believed was the best possible way to go. The way he wore a smile till the end just made him appear all the stronger through his eyes.

Even after everything they'd both been through, the sound of Felicity's sobs wracking her body still was like daggers to the chest.

* * *

It had been a while since Felicity had last moved and honestly Oliver didn't blame her but the fact that this was causing her so much pain, even in her own state of being as strong as she was, sent his stomach into a series of somersaults because no matter what crap Felicity battled her way through she could never lose herself, even if she didn't even see it herself.

The only thing Oliver could do was to clutch her free hand in his.

* * *

Honestly Oliver lost track of all time.

His mind wouldn't stop spiralling out of control for the man that Felicity had known to be as her father. How he waited for her all this time in the same place where everything had happened, how he hadn't even battered an eyelid at the knowledge that death was upon him.

Felicity had the ability to bring out the best in people and to cause them to have such a protective instinct when it came to her. Excluding himself, because he knew he was protective of her, there was Digg, Lance, Roy, Sara, Nyssa, heck even Deadshot when he had found out that she was part of their plan. It was true, she was one of a kind and nothing in this world could ever replace her.

When Felicity rose to her feet with Sensei lifeless form in her arms, Oliver too had risen to his feet and followed her out of the building and towards the home that they both spoke of.

As she laid Sensei on the grass beneath the cover of a nearby Oak tree, he looked content with the world.

Immediately helping with the construction of his grave, Oliver couldn't help the thought to cross his mind of what would've happened if he too had been beside Felicity throughout this entire journey.

Could he have stopped all of this from happening?

The thought was crossed off when he recalled Sensei muttering to him not to allow anyone to blame themselves for any of the events that were to come.

He kept the thought in mind as they all pitched in with digging graves for the bodies of the people Felicity had once known.

Family always stick together, like Sensei had said to the group.

* * *

Oliver couldn't help the pain that was set to life when he saw Felicity releasing her frustration on a nearby tree, wood shredding to pieces in her wake, splinters flying off in every possible direction from looking on at the collection of gravestones lining up the green beneath the Oak tree.

He would help her where he could but in other sections, she was forced to fight solely on her own and that alone pained him further.

* * *

The night that followed, Oliver didn't catch much sleep for the fact of a missing body beside him was not to be found, for she was too caught up in the days' events to get a wink of sleep.

How she stood guard over her friends like a guardian was not lost on him, what would happen to her now?

The question lingered in her head as he followed her away from the second cave they had set themselves up for the night.

Wandering through the forest, not far from the campsite, Oliver watched in helplessness at the sight of Felicity being in the same boat as he had once been in after the island and the years following.

"Felicity?" his voice seemed to snap her attention to him. Swivelling herself round to face him, he was met by a neutral expression but he knew that it was what lurked beneath that he had to worry about.

"You're supposed to be asleep" her tone never once wavered from bordering safe.

"I could say the same for you…Felicity, you can tell me anything and I won't judge you ever…I've been in the same boat as you before after the island"

"You know I never thought it would be this difficult…I was an idiot to think things would be easy after the whole ordeal"

"Course it's going to be difficult because your trying to cope with everything that's been thrown at you and because of that, it doesn't make you an idiot…it makes you hopeful and being in a position that you've survived through, it gives you something to hold onto, take it from somebody with experience on the subject…after I came back home from Lian Yu, I became the Hood because of the guilt I carried with me…I found it easier to cope, then you came along and Digg and everything just slotted into place…the whole thing, it became home for me"

During his speech, Oliver had wandered closer to Felicity and they were now sat on the floor with their backs pressed up a nearby rock.

"But how did you deal with all the guilt though, because that's I see right now?"

"I didn't….I just made sure that none of the deaths of the people around me were in vain, that they fought for something"

"But in this case they were fighting for me"

"And the secret you held…that serum still runs through your veins, they were protecting you so you could continue in your story…to consider them as another chapter of your story"

"….thank you by the way" turning his head, their gazes locked.

"For what?"

"Everything that you've done, for being there for me and for everything you did today…you helped him along too, so thank you"

"Always" he reached over to clutch one of her hands in his.

Leaning herself towards him, he felt her rest her head on his shoulder and without even thinking about it he rested his atop hers.

Memories of her beneath him back at her house swamped his mind.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to be filled with those memories of the intimate moment that they shared.

"You know I appreciate that you've always been there for me" her voice snapped his eyes open and met hers.

"And I always will be, no matter what…and for what it's worth, I'm glad that I'm here with you"

"Me too"

That night they just sat there together, side by side and she finally found herself opening up about how much she couldn't stop thinking about the journey ahead of them and how she was basically putting herself in her original position.

Something she reminded herself was the fact that they were always stronger together.


End file.
